RWBY: The Warm June Night
by Adam - Not Taurus
Summary: This story is about a Huntress named June. She has met many on her adventures, including a young Team STRQ and Ozpin. She'll be a new addition to everyone's lives, and she has her secrets, like we all do, but hers could lead to the end of her life if they were revealed for the world to see...
1. New Beginnings (Vacuo Pt 1)

**Authors Note:** This is a revised version of Chapter 1, so, as a warning to anyone reading this for the first time, some chapters coming after this will not reflect the same writing. I have gotten complaints that I write too much in single paragraphs, which I did, but I've fixed that; however, since that review was a little later, chapters after this one up until Chapter 18 are not written like this one, and all of the _Vacuo Saga_ hasn't been spellchecked to the best of my ability. Basically, don't _expect_ chapters directly after this to be written as well. Even if it makes people not want to read further, I feel being honest is the best thing I can do. With that, I recommend that you have watched at least Volume 3 of RWBY, as the first line has a spoiler. Other than that, let's begin the story!

In a house found in the middle of nowhere, 33 years before the Fall of Beacon, there lived a Vacuoan family who had managed to survive the harsh desert landscape. However, a skilled Huntsman seems to always be the reason for their safety. Oraculi, an intimidating man, had killed many Grimm in his young life while keeping his skills in older age. His deep red hair had made him stick out like a sore thumb in crowds, if not covered by a cloth hat, and his great-sword would put fear into the most skilled of warriors. He covered himself in desert cloth and hid armor under it to keep some form of camouflage.

Even Grimm had feared the wise Huntsman, but not for his skill. The one thing all Grimm would recognize are the glinting silver color coming from his eyes. However, he never told anyone about his gift, as his father before him had taught him to hide this from the world. Many warriors with this gift were hunted by an unknown threat and, although he was confident in himself, he listened to his father. Oraculi had more to protect than himself now, though. He had a beautiful wife, Angelus, who's long blue hair had allured many in her settlement, but she had met Oraculi and fallen in love. He had no clue what made her like him, but he was happy that he could be with her.

Oraculi and Angelus had found themselves moving into the wasteland after Oraculi's father had died. The estate had been a gift in the family and handed down for generations. The only time it had been thought to be destroyed was during the Great War. Some years after they moved, the two had a child. June is what they named her. It was obvious she took after her mother, as her blue hair was apparent the second she was born. Although the new parents had wanted a child, they were concerned with where they would have to raise her. June would have no friends her age and they would have to protect her.

Once the young girl had reached 5 and had heard many stories, her wanting and pestering to see a new place had grown. Oraculi had wanted to keep his family safe, so he was persistent and had patience to spare. Angelus, however, had wanted her June to see some other place. Although Oraculi had done his best to keep them there, Angelus was able to plan a way around him.

There had been a settlement that had set up camp only an hours walk away. Oraculi would also be leaving for a day or two to get supplies for the next month. Once this day had come, he had said goodbye to his wife and child and went off on a camel. After about ten minutes of waiting, Angelus had started to get herself ready for a day trip. She was then interrupted by the curious child.

"What are you doing, mommy," June had asked her from behind. Angelus had finished putting on her desert cloth outfit and crouched down in front of the girl to tell her.

"We're going to see a settlement, so you have to get ready to," Angelus had said this, but before June went to get ready her eyes lit up and she got extremely excited.

"However, do not tell your father about this, OK," Angelus had added and had gotten a head nod from the young girl. Crossing the desert would still be dangerous, even with the planning Angelus had done. This involved asking Oraculi where Grimm seemed to be most of the time. It would've looked suspicious if not for the fact that Angelus had always asked Oraculi about his day.

She wasn't completely reckless, as living in Vacuo had taught her how to defend herself, although not as good as a trained Hunter. She had a dust revolver with a knife at the end and she would bring it with her. Once she had packed enough dust, June had come out in gear and told her she was ready. Because Oraculi had taken the camel, they would have to walk, so it would awhile until they got there.

However, the trip would prove to be a failure.

The pair had started their walk across the tan wasteland. June was an active girl and always wanted to play in the heat, so she was adjusted to the extreme temperatures of the desert. After about thirty minutes of walking and a couple encounters with Beowolves, they found themselves encountering a pack of Beowolves.

This wasn't good, as Angelus could only take on so many. She was worried for June, but the young girl was brave and was able to keep to herself any fear she had. It was scary, though, so June had tried to hide behind her mother. The wolves were persistent and highly aggressive, much more than their counterparts in any other environment, as the desert had hardened them extensively. Angelus' revolver was powerful enough to kill one with a shot to the head, however, so she had held off the pack for the time being.

In the end, though, there were too many of them. After running out of ammo, the wolves had charged the mother and daughter. Angelus had no time to reload, so she crouched and shielded June while she tried to reload the weapon faster. Even with her faster speed and loading less, she was too late. A wolf had reached out its claw and had come within inches of striking Angelus. In that time, June realized what was happening, and was overwhelmed with a feeling of protecting her mother from the grimm threat...


	2. A Hidden Curse (Vacuo Pt 2)

June's sudden thinking of her mother had sparked something within. It was then that the pair were surrounded by a blinding white light. Angelus was blinded by it, but it had reached far, making sure any nearby Grimm would suffer the same fate as the Beowolves right in front of them. When the light had dissipated, she opened her eyes and found that all of the Grimm were gone. Angelus was shocked, as the act could make anyone believe that there was such a thing as a higher power.

When Angelus had looked down at her daughter, however, she had been put to sleep. She wasn't sure what happened, but she had to take June back and hope that Oraculi could explain anything. After Angelus rushed back, making her trip only twenty minutes instead of the half hour it took before, she put the young girl in bed and waited for her husband. It was only when the sky became a twilight purple that Oraculi had returned with their supplies, and when he was done unpacking, she told him what had happened.

"Oraculi." Angelus had addressed him once he finished. Her tone immediately caught him off guard, sounding as though she was worried about something.

"Yes? Something you need to tell me?" He asked as he started to change his outfit.

"Yeah. I may have tried to… Bring June to a settlement only an hour away." Once she had said that, Oraculi had stopped what he was doing. He knew that June was OK; however, he was curious how the girl was already asleep.

"What happened." He said it slowly, as though he was angry.

"Look. As much as I agreed to live here, we need to take her somewhere else for once. Even if this is Vacuo, it wouldn't hurt to let at least see someone else her age." She snapped back at him quickly. He sighed and lightened his expression.

"I'm sorry. But, considering you're telling me it happened instead of keeping it hidden, I was assuming you needed to tell me something else." He had said. Knowing that he came across as crass, he phrased his response to make clear the fact he was only concerned about his family.

"Right, I know, I'm sorry." Angelus had responded, and then continued, "Once we had walked for what felt like half-an-hour, some Beowolves had come after us. I could take out a few of them, but they felt endless. Then, all of a sudden, some white light appeared, and the next thing I knew all the Grimm were gone." Her answer had gotten more shock out of Oraculi than her bringing up what she did. He turned back and whispered to himself.

"Shit." He sounded distressed as he said it quietly, but it was loud enough for Angelus could hear.

"What's wrong? Do you know what it was, and is it a bad thing?" She was very curious, considering it sounded like he knew what was happening. He sighed as he started to talk.

"I- I've tried to hide it from you for awhile, but I guess I can't now." He had stopped, but before she could ask anything else, he continued, "You have to know that I hid this from you because I wanted to protect you. The true reason I wear contacts isn't because of an eye problem. It's because I was trying to hide my eye color."

"But, why?" Angelus was getting too impatient, as she cut him off to ask.

"Let me talk. Silver Eyes are a legend that was lost to time. This legend stated that there existed warriors that had a special eye color. It also states that these people were destined to become fighters. This was because the people held a power capable of striking fear in Grimm while being able to kill one with a single look." He had told her, but it had confused her more when she thought about his reaction.

"Wait, that sounds like a great thing, so why are you making it sound like a bad thing?" She had asked. She was no fool, as she saw what his reaction was.

"The problem comes from the fact that time wasn't the only reason these warriors were phased out." Oraculi had told her before explaining it more, "For some unknown reason, for as long as my family could remember, our Silver Eyed lineage were hunted. These hunters were no joke, either, being able to dispose of us. After some time, our ancestors began hiding their eyes, realizing that just hiding the legend wouldn't stop them." Angelus understood now, but still had one last question.

"Then why should we try to stop June from becoming a Huntress?" Angelus had asked. Oraculi had seen her reasoning quickly, realizing he said that Silver Eyed Warriors were destined to become fighters.

"I- I don't have a reason besides the fact I wanted to keep her safe." Oraculi was being honest, but his wife didn't like it.

"Oraculi. It's Vacuo. If she ever wants to leave, she needs training. Not to mention how active she is; however, I can at least agree that maybe we should ask her and tell her about this first before we make any decisions for her." Angelus had told him.

"Tell me about what?" A young voice had come from behind them. It was June. Oraculi had immediately turned around and crouched down to look at her.

"You're… Awake?" Oraculi had said it rhetorically, more to prove to himself that she was. June didn't answer, realizing that it wasn't supposed to be a question.

"What were you guys talking about?" June had asked, looking at Oraculi and then at Angelus. Before Oraculi could say anything, Angelus had said something.

"We were talking about what you might want to do with your life. Have you read about Huntresses?" Angelus had asked her while walking to her.

"Have I! They seem really cool! And they help people by killing those horrible Grimm. I really want to be one!" June's answer took even Angelus aback. They knew she didn't have much to do, but the fact that she read up on them without much pushing from them was surprising for such a young girl.

"We'll talk about this more tomorrow. How about you go back to your room and wait for one of us." Oraculi had told her. She complied and went back. He sighed and looked back at Angelus.

"I guess I have no choice. I'll start training her tomorrow." He had told her. She was shocked by the sudden change in heart. Her reaction was visible, so Oraculi could answer without needing another question, "You're right about the legend, but it isn't the only reason for my convincing. It's the simple fact that she's already awake. Even with a minor use, the first time a warrior uses their power would knock them out for a couple of days, and here she was, walking with no problems. If I don't train her, it's just wasted potential. She's a prodigy." Considering how depressed he sounded telling her, Angelus had to do something.

"Well, don't worry about her." Angelus had hugged him and went on again, "She'll be fine. Our daughter is already pretty tough. She'll be able to handle anything." Although it didn't fully work, Oraculi did feel better about it. After they were done, Oraculi went to June.

"How're you feeling, June?" Oraculi had asked the young girl.

"Fine. Well, there's a little pain everywhere, but not that bad." June had told him. It was impressive, but he was there to tell her about tomorrow.

"Well, if you're feeling better tomorrow, I was planning on starting a training regiment with you." Before he could explain anything else, the girls eyes lit up.

"You're going to help me become a Huntress!?" She had shot up from her bed. He had confidence his girl was smart, but he was expecting to have to explain what he meant.

"Basically. However, I want you to get some sleep before then." Oraculi had told her and she complied rather gleefully. It was the first time in awhile she had went to sleep without much help. Although she said she was fine, he suspected that she could just resist the pain and fatigue better than anyone before her. He went back to his and Angelus' room. She had gotten comfortable while he talked to June. He quickly changed into something more comfortable and joined her. Before Angelus could ask him anything, though, Oraculi had passed out from his fatigue…


	3. Training Begins! (Vacuo Pt 3)

Oraculi had found himself waking up to a nudge, which was followed by some quiet talking.

"Dad. Daaad." The little girl had started to shake his arm. Although he had woken up early for his trip the day before, he still wasn't used to waking up that early.

"What?" Oraculi had said it through tiredness, partially annoyed. His tone would be ignored by the girl, however, as she went on.

"You said you would start training me today." Oraculi had grunted after June had said that.

"How about you wait until the sun comes up, or when your mother wakes up." Oraculi had told her his conditions.

"Um…" June had gotten that out before another voice had come out from in front of the bed.

"I think you need to look up." Angelus had said.

"I woke her up first. She made breakfast." June had told Oraculi, and he had just sighed in response.

"Fine. I'll be out in a couple minutes." After saying that, he sat up in bed as Angelus took June out of the room. When Oraculi had equipped his desert cloth outfit, he joined his family in breakfast. More accurately, Angelus had left some for him. It was quiet. Most certainly because of how early it was, as the sun was just starting to rise. Once he had finished, June was quick to ask.

"Can we start now?" Her eyes were wide as she asked, and his answer would only make her more happy.

"Well, I guess you've been patient enough, even if it took some convincing." He looked at Angelus who had only taken a sip from her mug she had. June ignored it as she went outside. Oraculi followed her, and after they got outside, they went to spot next to the house that had some reasonable space. He told the girl to stop as she started to go a little far.

"We'll be starting here." Oraculi had told her, and then continued, "We have to start somewhere, and, thankfully, you're smart enough to work on some fighting. I'm going to teach you how to fight one-on-one with your hands. We'll get to weapons when I think you're ready." Once he said that last one, he could see that June's expression changed a slight bit. He didn't want to teach his daughter to rely on a weapon, finding it one of the major flaws of current-day Huntsmen. However, he didn't just favor people who only used martial arts and close-quarters-combat (CQC), he also found them to be dumb. He highly favored warriors capable of using both CQC styles and their weapons in conjunction, so he was going to impose that philosophy onto June.

Training had started from that point on. Oraculi wanted to teach the girl how to fight with experience, but as all teachings went he would have to start with unlocking her aura. A simple process but Oraculi wanted to train her to use it properly before fighting. It would be a couple months since he brought June out to the training grounds that they would actually spar. In their first couple of bouts, it was apparent that June was a natural. However, after a couple more sessions, it seemed Oraculi had only needed to adjust to the girls size, obviously being smaller than what he was used to. The next year would see rapid improvements in June's fighting capabilities, with Oraculi finding that she had a liking for faster, more complex styles of fighting. Her quick thinking was closing in on his in terms of ability, and soon the only thing giving him an edge would be his many more years of experience.

By the time June had reached 7, it was obvious she would outclass her father. She had practiced with a separate form of Kung-Fu different from her father's main style, and was making good progress with it, but it wouldn't be a huge advantage at first considering Oraculi knew its weaknesses. He never used it because he didn't have the speed to keep it up; however, June was pushing herself and was resisting practicing more with her fathers style, insisting it was the easier one to use. In one sparring session, June had tried to push herself harder than before.

The session had started like any other, Oraculi prompting June to hit first. She still needed to speed up in order to use the fighting style more effectively, but she was fast enough that only Oraculi's max could keep pace ahead of her. Dodging a slide forward to take out his legs, he swung his left leg around to strike June in the head. It wasn't at his max speed, so he was expecting her to dodge it. When she did so, she had brought up her resting arm to grab his leg. She managed to get it and kept it there until she could sit up and grab it with her other arm. She then motioned to swing him into a barrel roll. He was shocked by the attempt, considering that they both knew she wasn't strong enough to lift him up. However, she put considerable effort into it, and a flash erupted from June's arms as she twisted the leg and sent Oraculi into a barrel roll. He tried to recover, but June was faster. She had gotten up and knocked him down with another flashy jab, which was then followed by many hits to his back. He rolled over knocked her back with his legs to give him time to stand up and start a counterattack. When he did get, though, he looked back to see June had fallen on her back, exhausted. Her aura flickered as he went to check on her.

"Are you OK?" Oraculi had said it from afar, keeping his distance to make sure it wasn't a trick.

"I… give up." The girl sounded exhausted as she struggled to get it out. He let his guard down and sighed while he walked over. June had her eyes closed as she had laid there.

"Well, I have a couple guesses for what that was, and, considering what your plan was, I'm assuming you already know what that is." Oraculi had put an eyebrow up, showing he was waiting for a response. June had chuckled and opened her eyes.

"Maybe I do. I wasn't expecting it to take up that much, though." June was being honest with him. He was putting faith in his daughter that she would take bare of reading and studying things on her own, and this had told him she was. Finding and discovering her own semblance was quite impressive. He helped her up as they went back inside, as June needed the rest.

Since that one day, June had kept on using her semblance to reduce its cost. However, the price of going at such speeds would never be minor. Even after two years of training, it was clear that it was a powerful fallback, and not much else. In those two years, though, June had improved exponentially everywhere else. Her natural speed had increased, which allowed her to master the fast pace form of Karate her father couldn't.

For her ninth birthday, Angelus had made her a blue hooded cloak. June loved it to death, as her mother sewed it herself. Her father didn't give her much, but he would end up giving her an unexpected gift only a couple days later: She finally beat Oraculi. With a base speed just under her fathers max and experience fighting him, she pulled through in a sparring session and beat him. It was no fluke, as she beat him the session after that, but every once and a while Oraculi would pull a win. With her constant showing of skill, she was ready for a weapon.

The day had started like any other: Angelus made breakfast and June rambling to her that she was better Dad. Oraculi stayed silent. When father and daughter went out to practice, June had been suspicious of him immediately. He had put on more clothing, and took more of a defensive stance, something he hadn't done since he started training her. The round started and June rushed towards Oraculi. He put up a block, but she faked a front punch and flanked him. Too fast to dodge, he took the hit. Instead, he used it as a chance to grab her hand and bring her in front of him. Now, he would reveal his plan. Keeping her in place with his strength, he unsheathed his weapon. It was a massive greatsword that, despite its side, Oraculi had handled it effortlessly.

The sight of the weapon surprised June, and she went straight to using her semblance to escape his hold. Once she got out from his grasp with a quick movement, she got some distance from him to see what he would do. With June wanting to challenge herself, she didn't say anything about it being unfair and stayed silent, signalling that she was willing to fight against him. He smirked to himself as he took a stance with the sword, proud that she wasn't willing to give up. She went for his legs with a side sweep, but Oraculi didn't move. He knew it was a fake, but June had a different plan. Usually, she would go behind him. This time, however, she would move herself to make it look as though she went behind. When Oraculi glanced to his side, June went for his sword from in front of him. She grabbed the sword on the blade from the sides to prevent being cut. After she grabbed it, she would use her semblance to disarm the Huntsman.

Oraculi had smirked again while still looking behind him. It was then that something shot from the hilt of the sword, and it had sent an electrical current through the weapon. The girl had been shocked and had taken the brunt of the charge. Of course, it wasn't enough to get rid of her aura, but it was damaging enough to knock her back and out of the fight. Although not lethal, it was still a lot to take in for the girl, so she was out of commission for the rest of the day. Angelus, although wanting her daughter to get better, didn't like what Oraculi did, as it was quite harsh. With June fine, though, she wouldn't complain too much, just taking care of June as she recovered from the fight.

For Oraculi, it was actually a good sign. The fact that she was willing to fight someone with the advantage confidently was good. However, he hoped the experience would teach her that she should think of the unthinkable when dealing with other Hunters weapons. With that in mind, he would finally get her a weapon.

His timing wasn't a mistake. A settlement had been keeping its place for some time, and Oraculi had an old friend there that could help him with getting June's weapon. After a day of rest, he told Angelus about his plan.

"Angelus, I need to tell you something." Oraculi had gone to her while she was taking care of some errands.

"Hm?" She gave back a quick response.

"I was planning to bring June to one of the nearby settlements. I know someone there who owes me a favor, and he should be more than willing to make a weapon for her." After Oraculi told her that, she stopped what she was doing and showed she was excited when she turned around. Her demeanor changed when she realized his phrasing, though.

"Wait, bring?" She sounded confused, and she was hoping he wouldn't tell her what she was expecting.

"Yes, I'll have to bring her… while you stay here to take care of the house in our absence." He told her this and she wasn't excited about it. If it was a problem with Grimm, Oraculi wouldn't have left her there alone, but the estate had been handed down for the odd reason that Grimm would avoid getting close.

"You must be planning on it taking some time if you need me to stay here." She sounded depressed while adding, and Oraculi was quick to feel guilty.

"I'm sorry, but this is the only time that we can take care of this. I checked myself and Grimm activity is low, and I've made sure there's enough food and water for you to be alone for a while." He was right, and with the dirty work still needing to be done, someone had to take care of it.

"Alright. As disappointed as I am that I can't go, June does need to meet other people. And getting her a weapon is a nice addition, so I think you should go." She told him how she felt, and Oraculi had what he needed. Even with the locations odd effect on Grimm he still didn't like the idea of leaving Angelus alone, even if it was something he's already done before. With that done, he went to tell June about where they would be going the next day, and she seemed quite happy when he told her.

"Really!?" June had been ecstatic when Oraculi told her about it.

"Yes yes, but don't get too excited. We'll have to go by camel, which means that trip will take a day, give-or-take." Even with this addition, she still looked very excited to finally leave. She immediately started to pack and Oraculi had went to pack as well. He was expecting her to want to leave soon, but she was ready far faster than he was expecting. He was planning to leave the next day; however, June would constantly annoy him to leave, and Angelus probably wanted them to get the trip over with, so they ended up leaving after half-a-day.

Their trip would start nearing nightfall, an ideal time to start as temperatures in the endless desert would be mild. With the camels going on, they had made good time when night fell on them. Although June was excited, she had gone to sleep a couple hours afterwards. However, Oraculi would be staying up to keep on and make good time. Once the sun had started to come up and after he had dealt with some Grimm along the way, he woke June up.

"Wake up, June." With a nudge after saying that, the girl had woken up, but she was still a little groggy. It was then that they stopped moving, and June was awake enough to realize the sudden stope.

"Why're we stopping?" She asked rather confused, but Oraculi stayed silent as he got off the camel and motioned for June to do the same. She listened and followed his lead. Once she was off, he looked in the direction they would be going and when she followed his gaze, she saw a Beowolf. He stood still while crossing his arms and closing his eyes. She knew what he wanted and, as prepared as she felt, she was still unsure about fighting a Grimm. It would be her first time, but she went at it with confidence.

By the time she figured out what Oraculi wanted, the wolf had noticed them and had started to come at them. There was hesitation in its movement and the extra bone white armor it had all over its body only confirmed that it was a smarter beast. With a sudden semblance-assisted burst, she rushed the the wolf. It had slashed at the girl when she got close, but she was faster. Dodging it with ease, she went for the beasts legs and had hit it many times with sped of chops, as it was too durable to be damaged by normal, unassisted attacks. Her sped up hits had done damage to the beast, as it had roared in recoil. It responded by moving its leg to cut her off. Not wanting to use her semblance, she let it hit, and it had gone in to slash at her.

In a flash, she put herself closer to the sweeping claw. With the Grimm expecting to hit her later, the claws had not closed in on her. She sped up another jab and had put her hand directly through the Grimms paw, even piercing through the armored exterior. Oraculi had even raised an eye to the attack, knowing how fast something as blunt as a hand had to go in order to do that. The Grimm had pulled back the claw in pain and June took her arm out. Even though it was hurt, June wasn't doing much better. It never got a devastating hit on her, but she was exhausted from using her semblance. Without a weapon, or any dust, it would be near impossible to kill it on her own. Before she could go for another attack, an arm had held her back. Oraculi had come up behind her.

"A good start, but without a weapon, I didn't expect you to do much. You did make my job easier, though, I will admit." After telling her that, he reached for his sword, which was retracted on his back. He extended outwards and walked forward. The Grimm, after recovering, realized the challenge. Although it was smart, its craving for violence overshadowed its thoughtfulness. It had charged headfirst towards the Huntsman. He responded by stopping and keeping his place. Once it had jumped for him, he sidestepped and it had completely missed him. With his sword below the Grimm, it repulsed off the ground and shot up at the belly of the beast. The quick slash went cleanly through the Beowolf, cutting it in two. Its body had almost crashed into June, but it had disintegrated before it could.

With the Beowolf gone, they could begin on their trip again. It would take another half-day before they reached the settlement, and, when they got there, Oraculi would take them straight to his friend. June was excited to have finally gone somewhere, but constant warning from her father and mother told her that Vacuo was not a nice place. The impression from the settlement had only proved that. It didn't look pleasant, with many people either working or giving the both of them hard looks. There was one who tried to ask what they were doing there, but all Oraculi had done was ignore him. He started to get hostile, but he was quickly silenced by Oraculi after he moved to show his greatsword. The man's grunt and agitation, though, had told them that he was more annoyed than scared by the Huntsman.

After a little longer they had reached a forge, and Oraculi had gotten off the camel to go in. He told June to wait as he did. Then, he came back out a little while after with someone behind him.

"This is June." Oraculi had told the man and he showed a dim smile behind a work ridden face, his brown hair smudged and dirty.

"Hmf. Well, it's nice to finally meet you." He had put out his hand to signal a handshake but didn't have to crouch like her father since he was shorter. She was confused but took his hand. It was a weak shake and, if not for being told she never left her home, could tell that she was sheltered.

"I expected your father to teach you more than fighting." He kept his smile at the joke.

"Don't push it, Amica, she's just nervous. And probably tired." Oraculi was quick to respond, always having an explanation. He rolled his eyes and motioned towards June.

"Come with me behind the forge and we'll get that weapon worked out." Amica had told her and started to head back. She looked nervous about it. When she looked at her dad, though, he had nodded to go with him. With her father's trust in Amica, and her wanting to get a weapon, she was able to ignore her nervousness, at least a bit, and follow him.

He didn't want to have an unfair advantage in their upcoming weapon matches, so he stayed outside to keep the design a mystery. He was curious, however, with what the girl would come up with, considering a child's vivid imagination. It took about half-an-hour before the two of them had come back out, and June looked excited. Oraculi smirked as they started to leave. Amica was done for the day, so he led them back to his home. It was a short walk and the group was greeted by August, Amica's wife, when they got there.

She had stuck out quite quickly. Her personality seemed different than the harsh exterior the rest of the people had shown. Even though she was nice, June still found it weird, as it was highly contrasting the environment. Her looks were different too because she had fully cleaned hair and it was combed finely.

Oraculi picked up on June's curiosity and confusion, "August is from Mistral, June, and she was raised there too."

"Yes. It's a lot more formal than this place." August had responded to the comment with disappointment, seeming as though she didn't want to be there.

She let them in and Oraculi was quick to find the guest room. June was tired but she wasn't going to bed that second. August told her that they had already eaten and that she would make her something small with her husband, who always came home after dinner. In the meantime, June had explored the house. There were a couple rooms, not that big, and it wasn't long before she had ran into someone else. She was another girl and she looked as old as herself.

"Oh, are you the person mom said would be visiting?" The girl had asked her, not really shocked by her presence.

"Uh, yes?" June wasn't sure what to say, but her confusion in the sentence had gone over the girls head.

"OK! My name is Mai." Mai had taken after her mother, both in looks and personality, as she answered with a smile. Her long, brown hair was well taken care of. Another thing reminiscent of her mother.

"Uh… OK. My name's June." She had taken to copying what the girl was saying. Her parents tried to teach her how to properly greet someone but she was more focused on training and learning to fight than trying to meet people, or learning how to meet them. "I think I'll just keep looking arou-"

"Wow! You're hair looks beautiful!" Before she knew it, Mai was messing with it. She didn't stop her, not knowing what to do in that situation, so she just let the girl mess around with it.

"What do you do to take care of it?" Mai had asked her from behind.

"Um, just wash it. My mom occasionally combs it for me, but I've started doing that m-" June was cut off by Mai again.

"Really? You do nothing else? My mom says that there are many things someone can do to change their hair. You can't get any of it here, though. Which sucks." Mai had gotten a little depressed saying it aloud but then went on, "My mom tells me a lot about Mistral. I wish I could go there. It sounds a lot nicer… Wait! I'll be right back." She disappeared, going farther into the house. June took a seat on the ground while she waited. In that time, she heard arguing between two girls, or one. The voices were very similar. It wasn't too long before Mai had come back with a comb and not too far behind her was another girl.

She looked almost exactly the same as Mai, except for the fact that her hair was cut short and not attended to as well as Mai's. She stayed back, keeping a frown and glancing off when she realized that June was looking at her. Mai wasn't going to let the girl be an introvert, though.

"This is March, my twin sister." Then, Mai tried to push her out, but March was stronger and stood her ground. "Come on, it isn't that bad." Mai had tried to convince her to move.

"No!" March had responded loudly and suddenly. With that, her sister had given up on her and she went back over to June. What was weird to June, though, was that March had stayed there, even though she didn't like it. It wouldn't be too long until the twins mother had come to look for June.

"The food is done, June. You I hope you don't mind eating with Amica." August told her and June followed her to the dining room, which was also the kitchen. Amica was already at the table. He was checking his scroll and analyzing something on it before he looked up and realized that June had come in.

"It's not much, but there are only two of us." He wasn't wrong, as it was just baked beans and green beans. The girl began to eat as March had come in.

"Hey dad." March had walked past June, trying to ignore her.

"Heya, March. What are you on about today?" Amica asked as though he knew what was coming. She tried to talk quietly but it wasn't enough to keep it from June.

"Do you think we could practice some more today?" March had asked her father. He sighed before answering her.

"I'm sorry, girl, but it's too late to do that, and I have to start an order tomorrow." He had then looked at June before he started to talk again, "Actually, it's for our guest here." He then looked June. March had followed her father and was confused by the comment.

"Really?" She had asked.

"Yes. Really. If you want, I'm sure June here wouldn't mind sparring with you in my place. You need the practice against people other than me." Amica had recommended to her.

"You wanna be a Huntress too?" Marches eyes went wide. Although, the girl still tried to hide her excitement.

"Yeah." June had responded, not knowing what else to say. Even though March was obviously happy that the girl shared an interest, she still kept her suspicious attitude. However, she asked one more thing before going to her room.

"Would you like to practice tomorrow?" She asked the blue haired girl.

"Uh… Sure." June was still confused about the girls personality. With that, March had left the room, but before she could, Amica had told her where June would be staying.

"Oh, and March, June will be staying in you and your sisters room, so make sure she has something to sleep on." He told her. She huffed in anger hearing that. Once she had left completely, Amica started to talk to June.

"I hope you and March can get along. She's very interested in Huntsmen and the job, so I hope that will let her open up more to you." June nodded in response, and she stayed silent for the rest of her time at the table. After eating, she left and found her way to the sisters room. When she got there, March had been messing around with a fake sword while Mai had a sleeping bag ready. She then got a pillow for it.

June didn't really change, only taking off her cloak and some of her clothes, and it wasn't long after that June had fallen asleep.

* * *

Although June fell asleep fast, she wasn't used to sleeping anywhere other than home, so she would end up waking up early. Even though she was punctual, March had gotten up before her. She didn't know what to do. Nobody else was awake except for them. March had then caught June off guard by talking to her.

"So, is my dad really making you a weapon?" It seemed she opened up more when it was a one-on-one conversation.

"Yeah, he said he would." June had confirmed.

"So, does that mean you're starting out on becoming a Huntress?"

"No? I've already trained a lot with my dad."

"Oh… Without a weapon?" March was confused by the lack of weapon.

"Yep."

"That's kinda weird. Anyway, do you wanna fight a bit later?" Marches sudden enthusiasm was surprising.

"Of course!" June had responded with the same enthusiasm, though, wanting to finally fight against someone other than her father.

They had talked a bit more and soon after everyone else was awake. August started by making breakfast for everyone. All except Amica, who had already gone to the forge to start his day. After eating, March asked her mother if her and June could practice against each other. August took one look at Oraculi, who nodded in agreement.

"Alright, March. Just make sure to listen to Oraculi." She told her, knowing she had some problems with authority. March agreed, although in some protest.

The three of them had gone out and found a sparring area. There were some people there already, who had quickly shown they were Hunters by demonstrating their fighting ability. Oraculi had kept silent, June following him while March had done the same. Vacuoan Huntsmen were even tougher than the average person there, so they weren't into socializing very much. Ignoring them, March had showed June the fake katana-like sword she brought for the occasion.

"I didn't bring one for you." March had told her, seeming depressed at the thought.

"It's fine. I don't fully know how to use a weapon yet, anyway." June had tried to make her think it was fine.

"Alright, you two," Oraculi had started to talk to the both of them, "I believe it would be best for March if she used her weapon in this fight." March had looked confused from this, thinking it would be a disadvantage on June's part. To her surprise, the girl agreed to the terms. Although she started to like her, this had made March a little mad.

"Now line up at different ends and I'll start you off." Oraculi had told them, and they followed. "3… 2… 1."

March had ran forward while June took more of a defensive position. Oraculi would know they would be safe, mostly because Amica had told him that Marches aura had been brought out by him, and that she could use it herself. March would start by taking a slash at June's abdomen. She dodged by backing up and letting the weapon pass by. The girl was faster than she thought, however, and brought back the sword and thrust it towards June. She side-stepped and dodged again, this time dropping down on her right foot and sweeping the girls legs with her left. Oraculi had called it once June grabbed the sword and held it at Marches neck.

June flipped sword to show the handle to March. She took the sword back with a snarl, very much not liking her quick defeat. June was confused, thinking the girl must've been hiding some speed. Although, with her quick defeat, March thought they leave then, June had something else in mind.

"Hey dad, do you think that we could spar a bit before leaving?" June wasn't loud but the other Huntsmen there had heard her.

"Hm. I guess it wouldn't be bad to get some more practice in." Oraculi had agreed to the bout. Now, the Huntsmen stopped what they were doing, as they were curious. They weren't curious about the fight, thinking that it wouldn't be entertaining, but they were curious about who Oraculi was.

March had been put on the sidelines this time while Oraculi and June lined up across each other. Oraculi flipped a coin in the space between them, starting when it hit the ground. Within the second it hit the ground, June was in front of him. The Huntsmen watching had immediately coughed from the rising dust. When they finally got a view of what was happening, Oraculi had been struck multiple times. He parried a blow from the girl, sending it back with a counter. As usual with their fights, Oraculi would still get hits, but with aura and the small amount of hits he actually got in, they wouldn't do much.

She was knocked back by the move, and the both of them had taken a quarter-of-a-minute to come up with something. They were ignoring the faces they were getting from the small audience they had. The Huntsmen were sharing Marches shock, as this girl was demonstrating skill above a Huntsman.

"I didn't know she was that good." March had whispered it to herself, in shock by the girls sudden movements and quick thinking.

June then rushed her father yet again. He prepared for another series of blows as she went for a strike to his front side, which he promptly attempted to block. Before she hit, though, she disappeared behind him. It was predictable, so Oraculi had expected the move. He went down to a crouch to knock the girl of her legs. To his dismay, however, this was also a fake. June had used her semblance to dash behind and back in front of him to create an illusion of some kind. When he fell for it, she had struck him in the chest and arms. More specifically, the pressure points. Oraculi's aura was damaged plenty from the multitude of the attacks that hit him. He swung his arm back to hit the girl, which worked in getting her away, and she retreated back for another time of strategizing.

One of the Huntsman that were there already had went to grab his friend to see the fight. His friend had been requesting a weapon repair from Amica. He overheard the blabbering, hearing about a mostly black haired man fighting a very young girl with blue hair. Now he was curious, so he took his lunch and followed the Huntsmen to where it was happening. Sure enough, it was the two he thought it was. With Amica spectating, June was more than willing to put on a show.

By the time he had got there, they were about to have another bout. It was difficult for Oraculi to keep up, but he wouldn't go down without a fight. June confronted him up close and had lowered her speed this time. This would make their fight slower to allow Oraculi to fight back fairly. However, June was mostly doing it for show. The fight had turned into about two minutes punching, parring, and dodging. The two of them had lost a very minimal amount of aura, being evenly matched with her personal handicap. Since he had more pride in his daughter's skill, he was more disappointed about her holding back than showing off, wanting Amica to see how powerful she truly was.

"June… No more holding back." Oraculi had said it in his commanding speech, showing he was serious. He was hiding his curiosity, though, as he didn't know the last time she used her semblances full speed. June had looked back at Amica, who found himself next to March. He had a more stern, emotionless face.

She looked back at her father, standing up straight and closing her eyes. She let out a long breath. She disappeared, afterimages showing up in some of the places she was. She was unfathombably fast, Oraculi was rushed and overwhelmed in an instant. It was only a little under four seconds until Oraculi officially gave up, however, and June had fell to her knees as her aura flickered a bit. Amica came up to make sure June was okay, but she had stood up as if she was completely fine a couple seconds later. He then looke towards Oraculi.

"What did you teach her?" It was supposed to be rhetorical and he sounded concerned when saying it. Oraculi would know he would be questioned once Amica saw June fight.

"I'll explain my reasoning later, and when we're alone." He told his friend. He went up to June as Amica left.

"That was… So cool! Where did you learn to go so fast! How did do that! What else can you do…" March was barrating June with questions, and she was getting closer to June's face with every one.

"Alright, alright. You can leave June alone for now. We have to head back in the meantime." Oraculi had gotten the curious girl off of June. She would have to thank him later.

The rest of the day wasn't as fun, or excitable, as the morning with chores taking up most of the day. It felt like an eternity until nightfall for June, especially since March had been nagging her about her early fight. June didn't think illfully of her, though, and was mostly confused, thinking she was only average. Thankfully, Amica had gotten back shortly after it turned nighttime and he was able to keep March off of June. Although she was exhausted, June had asked him about the state of her weapon.

"Well, the chassis is mostly done, just have to add some finishing touches. Then, tomorrow, I have to take care of the internals you asked for." It was clear he was proud of his work. Even with his fatigue he was willing to boast. She had gotten very excited, knowing that meant he was almost finished.

The rest of the night went as before, with the exception being that June and Oraculi had eaten their dinner with the family. Afterwards, the kids went to bed, but June found herself too excited to sleep. She got to sleep after an hour of trying, though.

Her problems wouldn't be over yet, as she woke up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. She tried to be quiet and not wake anyone up, something she was rather good at since she wasn't very heavy. Her trip would be interrupted as she heard some talking near the kitchen. When she did, she stood just outside the entrance. The person who started talking sounded as though they were just laughing, quitely, albeit.

"It's been awhile since we could just talk." A voice that was most certainly her father had told the other person with him.

"Yeah, it really has been." Amica had added on in a happy manner but his tone would take a change, "I hate to ruin our mood, but you still haven't told me about June." The girl kept silent, realizing that she shouldn't interrupt it for curiosity's sake, so she stayed in her place to listen. Oraculi had sighed before talking.

"I had a feeling that you would after seeing our match up." Oraculi had told him in a worse mood.

"Of course I would. You basically trained her to kill other Huntsmen." Amica had said aloud, and Junes eyes had gone wide. He continued, "Especially if that story of her fighting a Beowolf is true."

"I'm aware of what I taught her and the reason we're here is to fix the fact that she can't kill Grimm easily." Oraculi had sounded annoyed, almost angry, with that comment. Amica had sighed after hearing him.

"Right, I'm sorry. Just… Why? You must've put an emphasis on fighting other people." Amica had kept his concerned stance.

"No, no. I should be sorry. I guess my pride in her fighting ability felt offended. Besides, the only training she has is fighting me, so I couldn't really train her to fight Grimm without risking her life." Oraculi had said, disappointed that he had an outburst like that. June, on the other hand, didn't know how to feel, between figuring out her father was proud of her to Amica's earlier comment.

"That doesn't fully answer my question, though." Amica had raised an eyebrow to that. Oraculi had sighed in protest.

"I don't need to tell you something you already know." With that remark, Amica had his answer.

"Huh. Well, I knew those eyes had a silver color to them. So that's why you started to train her." Amica had added, and then continued, "Although, I'm still surprised you decided to."

"It wasn't the only reason that I went with her training." Oraculi stopped for a second, as though he was still resistant to talking about the fact he was training her, but had gone on, "Angelus had tried taking her to see a settlement when she was five without telling me. Apparently, a pack of Beowolves had taken her by surprise, and then, from what she said, a white light engulfed them. Next thing she knew, the Grimm were gone and June had passed out." There were no audible cues from either of them for a couple seconds.

"I see. Five. That's… Extremely young." There had been shock in his voice, as he knew how impressive that was.

"I'm aware." Oraculi had sounded disappointed yet again. He then went on, "I couldn't hide it from Angelus anymore and she also became the main reason I started. Another shock was how fast June had recovered. Within the day she had been just fine."

"Oh god… She's a prodigy among prodigies." Amica's voice had been quiet, even more in shock than he was before. He had said something else after, though, "And you're still concerned with the people that hunt you?"

"Of course I am!" Oraculi had sounded concerned, and annoyed that he had to explain himself, "Considering we don't even know the people trying to kill Silver Eyed Warriors, we have to be prepared for anything!"

"Right, right. I got that, it's just… She's nine, Oraculi." Amica had told him.

"Yes, and I'm extremely proud of that fact." Once Oraculi added that, June had gotten a little happy. It was, however, undercut by the mood of the conversation.

"Still. It makes sense to a point, and I understand why, I just can't help but feel… Weird about it." Amica expressed how he felt, and then put his thinking onto Oraculi, "And considering your resistance to her training at first, I can guess you feel the same."

"Well… I can't deny that. But my pride in her still remains." Oraculi was confident in himself and June.

"Right. Anyway, when do you plan to tell her about her eyes?" Amica was curious what his plan was.

"I guess I planned to tell her after she was fully trained, to make it so she wouldn't rely on them, and to convince her that she should keep them hidden." Oraculi was clear but June couldn't help but reveal herself to clear something up. When she walked out from her spot in front of them, she saw that they were sitting at the table. However, they got up when she walked out.

"If you and mom don't have silver eyes, how do I have them?" June was genuinely curious. Oraculi and Amica looked at each other, which Amica then shrugged and motioned that Oraculi was the one who had to deal with this.

"I'll let you two talk. I have work to do tomorrow." With that, Amica left the room.

"How-" Oraculi had started to talk fast and angrily, but he stopped himself and calmed down before continuing, "How much did you hear?"

"Oh. Um…" She took a second of thinking, "I heard you guys talk about my eye color, which I think is important, and I also… heard… the Huntsmen killer thing." June was smart enough to know what that meant, and Oraculi knew it.

"We'll talk about this later, just go to bed." Oraculi sounded disappointed and started to walk off.

"Wait, what about my ey-" She was cut off by a stern glare from her father, which made her change what she was talking about, "I was actually going to the bathroom, so can I?" He sighed and nodded his head. She then went to the bathroom and found herself trying to go back to sleep in the sisters bedroom.

She had the same problems from before, but with entirely different reasons…


	4. An Unexpected Demise (Vacuo Pt 4)

It had been a rough night but June had woken up quite well. Her grogginess, however, didn't seem to reduce the awkwardness of eating breakfast with her dad. The kids didn't fully catch on, but August had. She came to Oraculi after they ate as June had went to hang out with March.

"Is something going on?" She had asked him, concerned with his daughter's relationship with him.

"It's nothing. She was going to the bathroom in the middle of the night and thought she would get in trouble for being up so late. That's all." Oraculi's delayed, but still fast, response had set her at ease.

"Sheesh. I wish March would be like that. She can be a hassle sometimes." August had sighed after that, showing her disappointment was genuine.

"It can't be helped. Amica became her role model instead of you, so naturally she would get the Vacuo way of thinking from him. Very much unlike Mai."

"I guess you're right," she had gotten out. However, her face changed after a couple seconds of silence, indicating she remembered something, "Oh, right. Amica said that you and June should stop by the shop before he closes down for the day."

"Hm? I see he still hasn't stopped being cocky about his work. There's no way he could be done so soon."

"I may be biased, I wouldn't doubt his ability. When was the last time you saw him work?" Her questioning was precise and undeniable.

Oraculi could say nothing in response and she took his silence as her victory. Although he was smart in battle tactics, he didn't exactly excel in small talk. The rest of the day went by slowly, considering he didn't have much to do. He could only guess that June felt the same as she looked less cheerful than she had yesterday.

He knew she was tough for her age, but that Huntsman killing part she heard must've been affecting her a great deal. Unfortunately, she was smart enough to understand what that meant and that realization would impact any innocent young adult in an academy, much less a nine year old. He couldn't exactly blame Amica for saying it; he didn't think that anyone would be listening either. June surprised even him with her stealth, so it was just another thing he had to stop underestimating.

As proud as he was, he still didn't like having to treat her more like an adult every day. Not to mention that it was more specifically a Huntress he had to treat her like. Eventually, he thought he was thinking about it too much and that it was something for another time. Soon enough, thankfully, it was nearing the time Amica would close shop, so he went to get June.

"June, we're heading out to catch Amica at closing time." With that, June's eyes filled with wonder.

He was going to tell her she shouldn't get her hopes up, but stopped himself before he did. _I guess she already feels scared around me for getting angry last night, so probably wouldn't be wise to add that. _He was a great Huntsman but his parenting skills weren't very good, so he'd hope this trip would help him. The only reason he could guess June even looked up to him is the fact that he was training her. However, he would still try to make amends for what happened.

June was excited after hearing where they would be going.

She wasn't sure how long a weapon normally took to make but she got the impression that it must take some time. Truly, though, she felt it was kind of dumb to get excited about it quickly, thinking this would be a check up. For herself, she preferred a complete product to be shown to her instead of being shown updates. Although, she understood the reason for such check ups: Making sure everything was fine with the person who requested it. But if that was the reason, he would've done it earlier, right?

Her thoughts were interrupted by her dad.

"Are you ready to go?" During that thinking process her auto pilot had helped her put on her boots and desert cloth.

"Mhm mhm," was all she said in response.

She was still concerned with what was brought up last night, but she wasn't particularly scared of her father. It was mostly the Hunter killer part. If anything, she understood that it was her dad training her like that, but she looked up to him, so she knew that there was some motive to it that had good intentions. Still, though, she felt weird about what had happened.

Of course, walking through this place didn't provide much comfort. She wanted to see the outside world so much, but this was a horrible example, considering the stories she heard. She held some optimism, though, and knew the world was a large place. Her thoughts were then interrupted.

"So, how do you feel about finally getting a weapon?" She was slightly shocked by her fathers question. He was usually quiet.

"Um… I guess it sounds cool. And it should help me kill Grimm, right?" Since the last part was rhetorical, she went on, "Especially since I heard about all those fantastical weapons."

"I see. They are truly something. Even thinking some weapons might be overkill can't let someone ignore the creativity one needs to come up with such things." His opinion was loud and clear. "To be honest, I'm quite excited myself to see what you came up with."

Hearing this, she became pretty relieved. She didn't even realize that him getting angry at her had affected her a lot, and she wasn't sure why it had. Even more shocking was that she didn't even know. With that mood changer, the walk to Amica's had been nice. She was even able to ignore the scenery a bit.

When they got there, it seemed the timing was perfect. Amica had just put finished a blade and went to put it away. He noticed them while he was carrying it but stayed focused on the blade, telling his visitors to wait a second. After that, he came back out to get them.

"I see you two are punctual. A tip June: If there's one thing you should take after your father, it's his timing." Although it was a joke, it had some serious undertone to it that June was able to pick up on.

_Wait, that's not right. _She realized it was the first time she ever picked up any undertone to his voice. _Does that mean he was treating me like a child before? _The thought crossed her mind, but she didn't bring it up, thinking it was a bit rude and possibly embarrassing.

"C'mon, I'll show you what I've got done," Amica said, taking June out of thought. _Hm, guess that means I was right about the check-up thing._

The two of them followed the weaponsmith back inside. It was messy, but the way he traversed it with familiarity showed it was organized chaos to him. He walked past one room where all his unfinished products were. Well, that's what June guessed. The room they entered after was quite different from the first, however.

It was neatly decorated with wall mounts for different weapons. The walls weren't very fancy, but for Vacuo, it might as well have been tended to by an interior designer. Since there was a weapon mounted higher than the rest, she assumed that it was important to him in some way. There was a partially cleaned off table under said mount and it only had an open box covered by a cloth of some kind. Amica walked over to it and motioned for June to come over. Once she did, he got excited.

"Well… Voilà!" he said it as he took off the cloth.

A sparkle of silver appeared as the light started to hit it. The handles had some engravings to add to the look but there weren't many other visual cues that made it look special: They were just a single pair of metal nun-chucks. However, to June, it had looked amazing.

"Woah!" She couldn't say anything else, only looking at Amica as if to confirm something.

After he nodded, she picked it up by both handles. She swung them around a bit, trying to get a feel for it. She had only practiced a tiny bit with dummy ones she found in her dads arsenal. She then started to check if it could use the other functions she asked for. It was then, though, that Oraculi had cut her off.

"As excited as I am to see it myself, I think it might be better for you to keep that hidden from me," he told her. She took that as a command and, understanding what he was implying, put it back on the box.

"If you want me to be honest, I didn't realize how good of a weaponsmith you had become, Amica," Oraculi had said it earnestly.

"Hm. I'm disappointed you would think I wouldn't improve. Besides, my semblance has only grown overtime," Amica said back, but it took June's eyes off her weapon for a bit. Noticing this, Amica started to explain, "Oh. He didn't tell you? My semblance allows me to enter a state that helps me perceive the world around me better. It can range from hearing things better, judging a distance perfectly, or being able to gather the precise temperature of something simply by being close-"

"Or, in other words, the perfect semblance for a weaponsmith." Oraculi followed right after Amica appeared to finish talking; although, he wasn't.

"That's what _you _remember, Oraculi. You don't think I've advanced it since Shade?" With that comment, Oraculi's curiosity became visible.

"A couple years after moving to this village, I noticed something that started to become a trend. I swear it was déjà vu, but it was happening too often for it to be a coincidence. Then, it happened. I got wondering and tried focusing hard on one of my uncompleted projects, and boom. I could sense the exact time I would finish it, had a general idea of what it would look like, and I could determine if it would function."

With that last comment Oraculi was visibly taken aback. June, now interested in what he was talking about, blurted something out in response.

"So, you can have premonitions?"

"Yep, and I've been right one hundred percent of the time, but that's where the 'perfect for a weaponsmith only' comes to mind," Amica said, implying it wouldn't work for anything else.

June had educated herself in the nature of semblances since discovering her own and she was able to grasp that hers wasn't very special. It was useful, but not to the extent of seeing into the future useful. Even if it was hyper specific, it was ultra useful. With that all in mind she could only aw in what he could do.

"So does that mean my weapons works fine?" June had asked him. He grinned and gave a confident nod.

"If you want, I can even guess its name with astounding accuracy."

"That would be great!" June jumped at the opportunity while hoping it could prevent her from giving it a bad one. However, he told her to calm down and explained that he would do it tomorrow when he wasn't exhausted as he could only still only use it once a day.

She felt stupid for jumping at that so fast, but the mood and the adults told her she didn't have to apologize. The three of them then closed down shop and went home. On the way back, Amica said that the painting would be done by noon the next day if he got to the forge at the usual time. All her father did in response was pat him on the back for his proficiency. It was admirable, but not knowing fully how these things worked probably meant it would be more impressive if she knew more. Both her father and Amica talked more; although, she was paying attention to something else.

Whenever the talking would die a bit down her father would usually go back to his stoic expression. Usually. This time, however, the looks he made had given off… _Concern?_ She couldn't tell, but knew it wasn't normal. _If it is worry, what would he be concerned about? Maybe it was something said recently? _June started to analyze her memory more intently than she did before. She was so focused on her weapon and Amica's semblacne that she hadn't caught any deeper meaning in anything that was said. "_I'll have it done by tomorrow and roughly around noon,"_ was what Amica told them. She didn't find any deeper meaning to it, but, from memory, that's when her father's mood changed. After a bit of thinking, she still couldn't tell what it was, and it was bothering her. _Seriously! What could it be! Something I don't know about? Did I act weird? Jeez, if he were like Mom, I could read him e- _Her own thoughts were interrupted by a realization.

He expected the trip to take longer, so Oraculi was expecting to leave Angelus home alone longer than this. Still, though, the thought that they could leave the next day started to make him worry, and a little anxious. He tried not thinking about it while also logically explaining to himself that it was highly unlikely anything would happen to his wife, especially since she was from Vacuo. What he didn't notice, however, was that his face was still giving off some worry. It withered away the more he talked to Amica, though, and all without him realizing it.

It was a short walk and they were greeted by August once they got back. She was quick to make something for her husband. June had gone back to the twins room as well, which didn't really make Oraculi feel any better. He wasn't expecting her to just talk to him a lot all of a sudden, but he didn't really feel like much changed from before the walk. Next time she came out, which was right before she would go to sleep, he tried to talk to her.

"June," he said and got her attention, which she responded to with a nod. "I forgot to say sorry about getting mad last night. I didn't really mean to."

To his surprise, June nodded her head again and her entire body gave the impression that it had just relaxed. Her expression even lightened up. _So that did help? _he told himself and felt better. This trip had been a bonding experience for them, and he was happy that he was getting better.

The night went by quickly after Oraculi cleared things up. For him, at least. He still wasn't entirely sure that June felt better, but he had to go with what he could read on her face. In the meantime, he had another conversation with Amica after everyone went to bed, ending up in the dining room again. This time, though, it was just to have a normal conversation without any interruptions.

"Can you really see into the future with your semblance?" Oraculi asked, very invested in learning.

"Yeah. I was quite shocked when I learned about it. It does have it's setbacks though," Amica had responded rather quickly.

"I know semblances can be unique, but I don't think I've ever heard of something like that."

"I know, right? Still, I wish i could use it for fighting, even if I'm not a Huntsman for a living anymore."

"About that; what makes it so difficult to use for engagements?"

"Hm, 'engagements.' You don't have to use vocabulary like that," Amica picked on his vocab.

"You know damn well that's how I talk." The way oraculi said wasn't hostile; it was more joking as he smiled while saying it. Amica picked it up and chuckled at it.

_Still the same Amica, I guess. _Oraculi thought to himself as he restated his question.

"Anyway, is there any reason for it not working?"

"Yeah, unfortunately. It takes a long time for my mind to get used to using it for specific cases, so I can use it for smithing because I practiced with it. However, it still takes about… Ten seconds, give or take, of my undivided attention to get a premonition. Even then I have to think for a couple seconds after to recognize what I saw."

"I see. So even with an advanced version it takes an unreasonable amount of time in terms of an actual fight."

"Bingo. Besides, my skills good enough as is." With that remark his cockiness was apparent.

"Hmf, you couldn't beat me now. Even in your prime." Now it was Oraculi's turn to sound cocky.

"Says the warrior prodigy," Amica had shot back quick, knowing Oraculi's distaste of the legend.

It was a rather apt example of a Vacuoans harsh joking. It sounds even worse among best friends; well, if you're an outsider, that is. As antagonzing as it was, Oraculi had only chuckled in response, but didn't respond in the same manor. He was always more lighthearted to the people close to him, mostly because his parents taught him that way. Since he was raised the same as June, even being in the same house, he didn't share the same hardened heart as most Vacuoans. He only shared their distasteful looks that came from being a Huntsman.

"Sounds like you're just jealous," Oraculi shot back.

"Yeah right." With that they both had a good laugh, even if they were being quiet.

"Well, I'd hate to ruin this, but I have to make sure you two can leave by tomorrow." Amica then got up to leave.

"I guess you picked that up, eh?" Oraculi said aloud.

"Yep. I know you want to leave this junk heap as fast as you can," he said in a sarcastic tone before he left, but Oraculi knew what that meant. Usually, he did that to brighten the mood, so he for sure knew how Oraculi felt. He sighed and then chuckled a bit, realizing that he was too easy to read. He followed Amica's lead and went to sleep in the guest bedroom.

June woke up later than she did the day before. Albeit, still before everyone else. This time, the first half of the day would be hectic. It was mostly doing chores; even her father was forced into helping around. They had to pack, but that didn't take too long compared to everything else that was happening. Eventually, though, noon had come and her father and herself were ready to leave. Oraculi said goodbye to them all and March had looked gloomy that she was leaving so soon.

"Don't worry. I'm sure that I'll be back some day," June told her to make her feel better.

"I hope you're right, and I'm sure I'll beat you next time." The March said showed she meant it, so June agreed and said she was hoping for it.

When she looked at her father, he had a faint smile. She wasn't sure why, but she thought that it was the fact that they were going home. She felt happy about it too; however, she still wanted to travel more after going home. With that in mind, she joined her father and waved one last time to Amica's family.

Similarly to last night, the trip to the forge wouldn't be long, so they would be there a little past noon. However, something was off. Since they were being expected, Amica would've been there to greet them, but he wasn't. Oraculi thought of a worse case scenario and went to check, telling June to stay in front. It was worrying. Thankfully, though, Amica and Oraculi came out fine.

With him, Amica was holding a box. June could guess what it was as she opened it. She liked the weapons silver, engraved gleam from before, but now it was painted black and blue like she asked for. The blue was a primary while black took the tertiary and secondary colors. The handles were sloped and gripped her hands while she held. She could even feel the trigger mechanisms in the handles when she held it. She loved it already. She was so distracted, actually, that she didn't notice Amica had been a bit off.

Her overjoyed face made his mood a little better, but Amica couldn't get over what he found out. Oraculi didn't ask about it, though, which he thought he would. It wasn't much longer until they left. Actually, Amica had intentionally tried to stop talking and be inclusive to get them to leave faster. _Just go! Maybe it can be prevented! _he wanted to tell them that, but he knew that wouldn't help. His premonitions were always correct. The father and daughter left him alone, and Amica just kept that emotionless face. _I wonder how they'll react to it, or maybe I'm overthinking this. _he thought to himself.

Before they had got there, Amica was just waiting, so to pass the time he got the idea to check what the weapons name would be, just in case the girl asked. That was a mistake. Once he understood what it meant, he didn't want to move, which is why Oraculi had to come get him. _Why did I do it? _The question was pointless. _My damn curiosity had to lead me to that name._

_Angeli Cadunt._

This time the trip back wouldn't be very entertaining. Her father told her he didn't plan on any Grimm fights this time, either, so it would be even more uneventful. Still, June liked the sight seeing, even if it was mostly desert. She got to see more animals than she did before, especially since it was day time. Her dad even knew some of the animals, too, so it felt like a bonding experience as well. That would come to an end following nightfall, though, as June went to sleep relatively quickly.

Even though he was used to it as a Huntsman, trogging through nights having to stay awake were still quite tough. Oraculi always had to break through that first wave of sleepiness. Thankfully, he was still good at it, despite his age. He constantly checked a map and compass to see where they were going, but it was mostly to have something to do as nights like this were boring. There weren't any Grimm in their direct path either, so he couldn't even occupy himself that way. Eventually, the sun started rising in the distance, which made him feel a little better. There was still a long way to go after that, however, so he just tried to push on.

June woke up when the sun had been high enough to shine into her eyes. It still took her ten minutes to wake up completely, though. Her father hadn't changed much to her surprise. She knew he was a Huntsman but it was still impressive to go through the night and keep on; however, she would get better at everything. It was mostly out of friendly competition, so she didn't dislike her dad in any way. With thoughts like these and the occasional conversation, they were back at the house in no time.

_Something's off_. He couldn't put his mind on what, but he felt an ominous aura coming from the house. A bad omen as the house felt… _Lifeless_. As the word rang through his mind, he got off the camel they were riding for the last part of the trip and told June to stay put. He then kept hold of his weapon, which was hidden under his clothes.

The way he entered and told her to stay back made her suspicious. _Mom should be home to greet us, right? _When she realized it was a question, she grabbed her nun-chucks and went into the house anyway. When she came in, it did feel quite lonely. It looked as though things hadn't been attended to for a day. Looking around, she ran into her father. He told her to leave, which she responded by showing her weapon. He kept his concerned face, but let her follow and help him.

He went throughout the house, June behind him. It wouldn't take long before they reached the backdoor that led to the training area and a small garden. When he opened the door and stepped out, he stopped...

Confused why he stopped, she pushed past him to see what was happening, her curiosity taking over, but the pool of red liquid at the furthest point in the garden was indicative of what he saw…

_Angelus was dead. Her mother was dead._

They weren't given time to grieve, though. A boney white Grimm, an old Beowolf, had been on the other side. The way it was there showed that it was waiting for prey. Once had come out, it had charged them. Oraculi was able to get back to his senses; albeit, slowly. He braced and prepared to take it.

Then a blue flash encircled it.

There was warcry as he heard a stabbing noise within the second the flash surrounded it. It must've been one of her weapons hidden features. The fight couldn't be called that, as it was over the next second. However, as its body stopped started to dissipate, she kept stabbing. She only stopped once it was fully gone. Oraculi had only looked in shock by the response. He couldn't tell if the blade was sharp, or if she was just going that fast. _Proboth._

She then started to cry as she stayed knelt down where she was. In the meantime, Oraculi had went to see Angelus. There was a giant claw slash on her chest. It was recent but not recent enough to make it preventable. He just looked, extremely angry at himself for thinking this was a good idea. _She didn't need a weapon! I could've jus- _He grunted and went inside to get the things he would need to clean up. When he came back out, June wasn't crying anymore, but she sat still in the same position, motionless. After he moved the body, he was quick to find a coffin-like box for her to stay in. He sat looking at her for some time, confused about what to do. _I'll just focus on the now, so I should give her the best grave I… Could do. _He prepared to bury her tomorrow since they got there close to night.

Oraculi woke up early to do it. It wasn't on purpose, but his body had done it for him. After grabbing a shovel, he went to the garden. Her garden was a given place. Besides June, it was the most precious thing to her. He measured the box and knew how big it would have to be. He would have to figure out how to deal with June, _but maybe letting her be alone this day would be a good idea?_

When he got to the garden, there was already a mound of dirt and hole. Sure enough, it was the exact size, and when he looked towards the training ground, June was practicing with her weapon. The sweat and dirt that he could see on her from the distance implied she'd been out there for awhile. _Why? That's… Awfully grim._

He went to get her, but she didn't need to be told anything aloud to understand why he was there. He brought out the coffin himself and set it in. Oraculi told June he would take care of everything else. She didn't rest, though, as she went back to the grounds to practice. _How can she be so fine. She's different, but there's no signs of coping. _He didn't realize who she got her poker face from if that's what it was…


	5. A New Adventure Awaits (Vacuo Pt 5)

Things were never the same since that day.

Oraculi would have been fine, if not for the wine cellar found underneath the inherited estate. It was his grandfather's and hadn't been touched for years because he never cared for alcohol. But Angelus' death had brought out his drinking habits. Although, June wasn't aware of the other reason that he started.

It wasn't long after her mother's death that she gave her weapon a name, _Angeli_ _Cadunt_, naming one handle _Angeli_ and the other _Cadunt_. A couple weeks after she named it and practiced with it alone, she asked her father to spar with her. However, all she got was a shrug as he downed another drink. After several other repeats, she figured that she would just have to practice by herself now. _Why?_ she would ask herself. She couldn't understand where his motivation went because she knew her mother would want them to keep going. That's how she got through, so why wasn't her father doing it too?

A couple months later, June's tenth birthday would come up, but it wasn't celebrated in any way. She was surprised she even remembered it, considering her mother was the only one who cared about it. Her father did nothing that day, just like any other, so she thought that was a little sad. _Why should I care?_ With that, she surprised herself. He wasn't rude nor had he gotten abusive to change her opinion of him, so it was surprisingly sudden. Well, he hadn't actually done anything since he got into the cellar.

_Oh,_ she thought to herself. It was precisely _because_ he acted lifeless and did nothing.

Years would go by with no changes. Oraculi would go out from time-to-time to get them food and supplies, but it was only when they were dangerously close to running out that he would ever do this. It was annoying for June. There were many times where she thought of leaving for good. She knew, though, that not knowing how to properly ride a camel would be bad and make leaving without dying impossible, so that was off the table. She also knew that Oraculi wouldn't do anything about it. The years leading up to her fourteenth birthday, being in what felt like a prison with nothing to do, Oraculi would start to become rage inducing for her, not just annoying. When the day did come about, she thought of something to get him up.

When she found her father on the couch, she woke him up.

"Wake up," she said in an emotionless tone. The accompanying slap had managed to get him up.

He grunted in response and got up. He didn't need to ask as June had started to tell him what she wanted.

"We're going to spar, whether you like it or not. Just think of it as a birthday present." With that, he didn't have anything in response.

What Oraculi was paying attention to was not what she said, but her. Her hair was cut short very rough, indicative of a lack of grooming experience. _Am I the reason for that? _The thought shook him, as this was the first time in a while he looked at her sober. As for her clothes, well, he at least knew she was outside all day, so he was surprised to see that she had covered up everywhere. Besides the fingerless gloves and her face, there was no skin showing. What got him more was that she was much taller. She was definitely taller than her mother, probably about six feet now, which wasn't much shorter than himself.

What he didn't notice, however, was the time.

Annoyed about the seeming unending silence, June had broken it, almost aggressively.

"Just get up!" she said while resisting the urge to slap him again. She walked off to the training grounds, expecting Oraculi to follow soon after.

She expected him to take longer getting ready but she set a time limit for him in her head. Just as it was about to run out, he came out of the house. She kept her unfeeling face, but she was surprised she didn't need to get him again. He came to the grounds and, although he was hungover, was clothed and looked well. June felt something from seeing him equipped like this. She couldn't put her mind on what it was, though.

When he pulled out his greatsword, extending it to unsheath, she felt herself getting excited. She remembered the last time he used it against her, the round she _lost, _and she looked forward to it. She followed suit and got into a stance with _Angeli Cadunt._ Seeing this, he charged right after. She was expecting some warning, so she was surprised for a second. However, she was still quick to react.

Oraculi started by swinging his sword to her right side, which was dodged by June with a crouch. In response, he started to spin and bring the sword back around, this time faster. She was surprised by the move but jumped up on the blade. When she did, she was quick to jump up and knock it into the ground, expecting its electrical burst. After the blade was sent down, she disconnected _Angeli_ from the chain and the now individual weapon-handle revealed a trigger. This happened in a split second and June followed up by firing at Oraculi with _Angeli_. He was forced to take the first couple of shots but followed up to block any more with his blade. She retreated a bit to see what he would do as a follow up.

With the lack of doing anything, she was forced to charge again. She went for strike against his neck, but the weapon was blocked. With a millisecond of shock and realization, she took _Angeli Cadunt_ back and went for his legs. Even though it was a little faster, again the weapon was knocked back from a block.

_This speed, _she thought to herself, thinking that he'd been holding back the entire time. _Underestimation? _With that thought she was beginning to become agitated, but what would've been a small annoyance for anyone else would end up igniting a much larger flame. She took a step and went back in, seemingly at full strength, and speed, while aiming for his head. Oraculi was quick to deflect the blow from the nun-chucks. However, she had held back, expecting the block, and then was quick to bring the weapon back down to his legs to bring him down.

_Clang!_

The chain was caught on the sword, which had been brought into the ground. June was put into a momentary shock, enough time for Oraculi to activate one of his swords mechanisms. A pulse rang out, knocking her off her balance but not enough to push her over. The opening it created, though, was used effectively as Oraculi pulled the greatsword out of the ground, swung it to her side… And landed a clean hit. With no time to at least keep her ground, June was launched across the grounds and threw up sand and dust in her wake. Once she stopped, Oraculi could partially make out where she was, and noticed she wasn't moving.

_Did I- Shit! _Oraculi yelled at himself. _What the hell was I thinking!? _He started to run over to her, still ridiculing himself, _Was I too tired to realize I should've held back? Or too excited? Ugh, that doesn't matter, I have to make sure that she's- _He stopped in his tracks when he saw her start to get up. She didn't seem to be hurt, so that was good.

What wasn't on the surface, however, was a raging fire.

"Thank goodness you're-" he was cut off again, but this time, by a flash. With his semblance he knew what came next was an image of June in front of him. What he saw, though, was a face full of anger. When he realized what was going to happen, he also realized that he wouldn't be able to catch up with her. What followed was a flurry of attacks, mostly from _Angeli Cadunt_ but some still from her currently open hand. He could see the attacks and could think of endless ways to counter them; however, he would never have the speed to catch up with her. _She… Was holding back?_

The final blow ended up being even more confusing. She punched him square in the chest and, with the speed that she was moving at, hit as hard as he thought it would. What surprised him, though, was that it was more tough than he was expecting, as though her fist had become as hard as steel. Similar to what happened to her, Oraculi went flying back, but he fell and stopped quicker due to his size.

He didn't take much time to recover. That was physically, though, as he took several mental shocks. Sense was knocked back into him quite literally, and he felt horrible. _I've been… Neglecting her, haven't I? _He told himself. The anger he saw told him how that affected her while realizing she probably hadn't been holding back, but that the emotions in her forced out more power. _That would explain her shattered aura and current state_, he told himself as he looked at her. She was struggling to move. _I should help her. It's the least I could do._

June was panting hard. Breaking one's aura with extreme semblance usage would knock anyone out of a fight, and some could even pass out from it. Lacking the strength, she decided to let herself lay there to recover enough to move. Then, with still staggering breaths, she remembered what had got her in this situation in the first place. She gritted her teeth thinking of it. Between realizing he was holding back all those years ago and his willingness to not hold back against his own daughter after so many years of no training, she had a lot of anger in store. Thinking these things, she didn't hear the footsteps approaching getting closer.

Then, she felt a hand slowly turn her over so her back was on the ground. It was Oraculi. His face looked expressionless, but she could tell it had more to it than that. It was then that one of his arms went to carry her upper back, and another under her knees. He then picked her up and moved towards the house. She was surprised and confused, and she wanted to be angry, but her face only showed tired surprise. He stopped when he got to the backdoor of the house.

"I'm… Sorry about everything. Even if that's not enough," he said. June looked away in response. All he did after that was sigh and go into the house.

He took her to her room and paused again. It didn't take her long to realize that he was looking at the room. She realized the last time he looked at it was years ago when she was a child, so he was probably taking in the fact that the room was organized extensively. With nothing to buy and decorate the room with, she wasn't left with much to do. All of this only fueled the anger, but it didn't come out. She couldn't tell why.

Oraculi laid June down in bed and left the room, and she was left to think about everything. _Why? _She replayed to herself what had happened, and was left to dwell on it. _Why would he all of a sudden change? _She couldn't understand it, and doubted that he would actually change. Even with all of this, she was still able to get some sleep.

Things had changed, a little bit.

When June woke up the next day, she left her room and was surprised. Oraculi was in his workshop, tampering with his greatsword. _He's… Not asleep? _He would usually wouldn't wake up until after noon, since he almost always got black out drunk the night before. She checked on the workshop instinctively, though, and she was almost angry about it. Before she could leave it, however, Oraculi spoke up.

"I… Can't really cook, but I've looked at some of those books. I'll start seeing if I'm able to get some of the things you need," he said. "And make sure to tell me if there's anything else you might want."

"...," was all he got in response before she left the room. Again, she was left speechless and not sure how she should react. She would make breakfast, but only for herself, as she was used to. After that, her own schedule didn't change. She would go outside and train herself more. This time, though, she would look into that power she tapped into the day before.

The next ten months would be the same hell she was used to. Oraculi did change to her surprise, though, as he stopped drinking as often as he did, and he kept his promise about getting her ingredients she would need. She became a decent cook as a result. He even would occasionally spar with her, and after a couple more fights June had gotten better than his one-hundred percent.

Although, that idea of being in a prison was always with her, and it was torture to be kept there as a result. Even if Oraculi was better, she still couldn't be anything close to happy living with him. This all led her to finally trying to leave the desert for good.

"...Father," June said to get his attention as he was in his workshop. He looked up in response. It was the first time she called him any form of dad since she was nine.

"Is… Something up?" he said, worried.

"I think it's time I finally leave."

"..." Oraculi looked down. He didn't show shock, since he was probably anticipating it, but still wasn't ready for it.

"I… Understand. Even if I don't want it," he finally said after some time.

"I… Wasn't really asking for permission."

"Yeah, but I should warn you: Camels can be pretty difficult to tame. I don't think you would struggle with much else."

"I'll be sure to listen."

"Right," Oraculi said back as he started walking out of the room, gesturing for June to follow. "I have a feeling you want to start this as soon as possible, so we should get going."

June followed suit and they went outside.

Sure enough, Oraculi was right.

June took some time getting used to the animal, and it took even longer getting used to her. All-and-all, it took two months. This wasn't really out of place, but for June it felt like an eternity. She did, however, understand the importance of learning to get along with the camel. After those two months, she found that she enjoyed being with it, finding solace with it. That was good in her mind, and now she was ready to leave. Well, that's what she thought.

While she was packing, Oraculi had come to her bedroom.

"You're getting ready to leave, huh?" he asked her. She didn't turn around to respond.

"Yes. I'll be ready by tomorrow."

"Do you think you could make that the day after?"

"...Why," June stopped what she was doing, turned, and responded in a defensive tone.

"Before you get any ideas, it is something important. Do you remember when you were nine and listened to me and Amica talking?" Oraculi said back calmly to get the mood to a normal one.

"...Not really. You're talking about… The… Huntsman killer part, right?"

"No. There was a part about Silver Eyes."

"I can't really say for sure, but no for now."

"Hm, that's fine. This is my fault, like most of this is. Come down to the living room once you're done."

He left her after that, and after she was done, she went to the living room. There was a container on the table.

"What's that?" June asked.

"It's something that holds my contacts."

"And those are?" In response, Oraculi took out his contacts, and showed her what they were. Then, he motioned to his eyes. What she saw was not the dull red color she was used to and instead a silver color that replaced them. She was silent for a bit.

"So," she ended the silence, "those things change your eye color… And?"

"That's it, but they're not the important thing here. It's _your _eye color."

"This is what you meant by Silver Eyes, then?"

"Yes. I… Should explain," he said.

Oraculi then explained the legend to her, and he added that she used it when she was five to save her mother. June felt one prevailing emotion: Anger. She was mad that he would hide something like that for so long, and she didn't take long to express it.

"Why. Why would you hide something that important!?" June had yelled at him, interrupting him.

"Please, I didn't mean to upset you," he answered. "It was apart of a plan I had to train you, but-"

"You stopped. _Years _ago."

"...Yes, but I hoped you would never come to rely on the power, and I wish you would also hide them."

"Again, why!? I wouldn't have relied on them, and why would I hide the-"

"Because they're the reason we live in this hell!" Oraculi yelled, trying to convince her. June didn't soften her face, but she stopped talking. He sat back down, disappointed that he broke like that.

"My family, our family, has a bad history. They founded this estate centuries ago to hide from certain people. We never learned who they were but they hunted Silver Eyed Warriors. I'm not sure why. I only ever knew that they were extremely skilled and able to kill us with ease, like your Great Grandfather. I was… Just trying to protect you." June's expression had softened to a blank face. She at least understood it now. She talked after taking a couple seconds to take it all in.

"I don't think you're lying, but I also don't think I'll wear those things all the time."

"I get it. However, I need you to do this for me. Please," he pleaded with her. She sighed and kept her stance.

"I just don't think I can-"

"Please," Oraculi got up and put his hands on her shoulders extremely fast, "I don't care if you forget about me, or think I'm even worse for forcing you to do this, just… Do it. Please." June moved his arms away from her before answering.

"Fine." She walked over to the table and grabbed the case.

"I plan on showing you how the power works tomorrow. The time is up to," he told her before realizing he forgot something, "Oh, and make sure you're not wearing the contacts while using them. They have a habit of burning off."

June nodded that she understood, and went up to her room. With nothing else to do, she tampered with _Angeli Cadunt_ for a bit before heading to bed.

She woke up the next day, ready to see what Oraculi had in store for her. When she went downstairs, he was awake, just sitting with nothing to do. It was earlier than he was expecting, showing some surprise on his face, but he was ready nonetheless. They left the house and walked for a while until they spotted a Grimm in the wastes.

They got close enough to see that it was a Desert Ursa, and Oraculi told June to wait behind him. He got close and the beast noticed him. It started to charge, but all he did was sit still. It kept on and on until it finally came in front of him. Then, a white light came out and enveloped the Grimm, killing it for good. June was taken aback from the spectacle. She was confident she could take out an Ursa, but being able to kill any Grimm in one go without even moving seemed like a fantasy.

He came back and they continued on until they would spot another one. Eventually, they noticed that something was trailing them. Spotting a shadow from the sky, they looked up to see that a Nevermore had noticed them. Its size was alarming, but Oraculi let June take point nonetheless.

"Remember: You have to think of the preservation of life," he reminded her.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine," she said back.

Oraculi backed up to let June get its attention. Once he did and they both stood still, the Nevermore had started to come down towards her. It was as expected, but the fact it had a hunting pattern was concerning, and when it came into better view, the boney white color that encased most of it was indicative of a fearsome beast.

It was only then that Oraculi had started to worry. _This is bad_, he thought. _I don't think I would be able to kill a less armored one of this size in one go. _He was regretting letting her do this and he started to run towards her. The Grimm, noticing him approaching, sped up to make sure he wouldn't get there in time. It had gotten too close, however, and he would be too late to help, but, right before it got to her, a light that looked brighter than the sun encompassed the wastes.

_Angelus. Mom._

Her thoughts had one person in mind. She was the only person she ever lost, and the only person she wished she could've saved. The power that came from her was too much for her to handle in one moment, so June fell to her knees, exhausted by the usage. What she saw in front of her, though, was the decaying carcass of a Nevermore.

"June!" Oraculi's voice rang out to her. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I'm just… Winded."

"Good. That was still… Unexpected."

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked while getting back to her feet. She pushed Oraculi away when he tried helping her.

"A Grimm of that size _should _be turned to stone. Not to mention that you shouldn't experience that much fatigue after you use them."

"So… Mine are more powerful?"

"That would be the most logical conclusion but that fatigue should be another reason to save them as a last resort."

"I got that part."

After their brief talk, they started to walk back home. It was full of silence, even though Oraculi knew his only daughter would be leaving for good. Once they did get back, June was quick to get her things and a camel prepped. He helped her with it and it only took ten minutes because of that. Before she was able to leave, though, Oraculi hugged her. She did return it, but it didn't have much love. After a bit, she realized he wasn't letting go.

"Would you let me go," she told him.

"Right." He then stopped.

June got on the camel and went off after that. She didn't look back as she left, missing an Oraculi waving at her. She had finally left home for good, and when she realized that she couldn't see the house behind her anymore, she actually felt something she hadn't in awhile: Excitement…


	6. The End of a Saga (Vacuo Finale)

June had gotten around to Shade a year after she had left home. At 16, she was being mistaken for an official Huntress where ever she went, so being near Shade only increased that problem. What she didn't know, is that the current headmaster of Beacon was visiting Shade. A young Ozpin had caught the eye of many in his early years, mostly for being the youngest headmaster so far. This made many consider him a prodigy, but, of course, the real reason was that he planned for it to happen as the king of Vale. Ozpin had been there to increase relations there, as even other headmasters wouldn't visit Shade for its cruelness. Ozpin, wanting to keep the kingdoms united, thought visiting would help. The other reason? He planned to check on the relic held under the school, as it would be the first time he checked since his reincarnation.

Back to June, the way she had made money was to take advantage of people mistaking her as a Huntress. Whenever she stayed some time at a settlement, she would be asked to protect the settlement while she was there. She agreed to the jobs, and even took over some bounties from actual Huntsman. All of the jobs she took over the year had earned her a reputation among outskirt settlements. Even with their constant moving, communication was important between settlements, so news traveled fast of a wandering Huntress capable of completing any assignment given to her. The news had even reached Amica's settlement. His family, though knowing June, didn't know it was her, as the rumors of this "Huntress" included no mention of her weapon. When she got to the main part of Vacuo, though, her reputation hadn't followed her, so she found herself caught up in more fights of people who didn't trust her. One of the unspoken laws in Vacuo was that if you're tough enough to survive, you're seen as an equal among the citizens, but her newness led to people not trusting her.

This was apparent by the first bar and inn she found to stay at for the night. When she first entered, she caught the eye of everyone there, half thinking she was a Huntress and the other half planning to hit on her. When she had sat down and asked for a room and water, she had been approached by a drunk and his two friends. They sat near her and started to pester her and hitting on her. When she showed no sign of interest, and told them firmly to fuck off. Everyone looked at this, as the 3 men were the biggest in the bar. Being drunk and ruthless, they started to get closer and showed that they were pissed. Right before they got close, she finished the water and stood up. She knew that no amount of convincing would prevent them from trying to attack her. Besides, she needed to prove she could defend herself in Vacuo. She didn't move, and let them get closer. She wasn't in the mood to draw out the fight, so her semblance would prove helpful in that. Right before the first punch could connect, there was flash and a gust, but she was only a couple feet back from where she was. The men didn't know what happened, but they soon realized they had been disarmed and that their dust weapons and knives had been put in a pile at the other end of the bar. Another flash happened and the 3 collapsed, and she was back sitting down asking for another drink. Again, she didn't realize who the people in the bar were. More specifically, Ozpin was at one of the tables with the current headmaster of Shade, Theodore or Theo. They were lying low, but saw everything that had happened. Ozpin looked at Theodore, but Theodore showed he also had no idea who the young girl was. Unlike others, they both could tell she was too young to be a Huntress, as well as they both couldn't recognize her. Her speed had impressed both of them, however, so they both wanted to know who she was. Ozpin decided he would keep an eye on her while he was there, but wouldn't approach her tonight.

As the days went by and Ozpin's visit coming to an end soon, he kept an eye on June. He found that she was staying near the academy and making occasional trips to the library in the school. Teachers also told him that she was asking about how the school was like. Ozpin assumed she must've planned to become a Huntress. He didn't want to miss the opportunity to convince her for real, and also see how she learned to fight this skilled already. He decided waiting in the library for her to return would be best. June had gotten to library a couple hours later than her usual time. Ozpin had approached her and sat down at the same table she was at. June payed no attention to this, but Ozpin had started to ask. "What's your name, miss," Ozpin had started. June ignored him, so Oz brought up the academies. He then asked if she was a Huntress. Her default at this point was to say yes, but all Oz had said was, "Are you sure about that?" June stopped reading, and finally looked at who she was talking to. Though not knowing much, she did know what Beacon's headmaster looked like. "So what is the reason for Beacon's headmaster being Vacuo," she added. Oz explained that he was there when she displayed her speed in the bar, and that he was interested in how she was trained without there being no reports about her existing. June stood up, put off that he would know these things. She had threatened Oz because of his knowing of her getting there. He simply put that he was interested in her abilities and thought that becoming a Huntress would be good path. June had admitted she wanted to, but before Oz offered to let her into Beacon after proving her merit, June had planned to attack Oz. Much to her dismay, Oz had dodged the first blow, which he showed no struggle with doing. June continued, wanting to see how much of a prodigy Oz truly was. She started to use her semblance, forcing Oz to actually dodge with close to his full speed. There was a tiny crowd gathering around the fight, as it wasn't common for Beacon's headmaster, or any headmaster, to get in to fights with people. Oz, needing to see her full capabilities, let the fight go on. However, she wouldn't show her weapon unless she needed to, so Oz had to do more than dodge in order to get her to use them. Oz had thrown hits back, of which she dodged, showing she was still holding back more speed. The fight was on another level, even to the other Huntsman there. After Oz had gotten a couple hits on June, with his trademark cane, she decided using _Angeli Cadunt_ would have to do. After 5 minutes of constant dodging and prairies, Oz saw that the fight would continue on unless he used his full strength. He didn't want to, anyway, and he showed her he conceded. June stopped, but still didn't trust the man. He started, "I planned to see how strong you were without fighting here, but in the meantime lets have a walk." He motioned to the crowd that had gathered, and waved them off. As they walked through Shade, Oz explained that he wanted June to attend Beacon, but also said attending Shade wouldn't bother him. June, seeing the opportunity to get into an academy younger than 18, told Oz she was only 16. This led to Oz offering her entrance into Beacon. Oz told her he was heading back to prepare for the new school year, and said that she could come with him to Beacon when he left. He said she would have time to decide whether she wanted to stay in Vacuo, or attend Beacon. He even told her that he would get Theodore to accept her at the young age if she decided to attend Shade.

In the days leading to Oz leaving, June had thought over his offer. With past research indicating that Beacon be the better school, and her wanting to finally leave Vacuo. Finally, a couple days before Oz would leave, she told him he accepted his offer to attend Beacon. She hadn't thought back to her father in the year she had been gone. She was confused by the pull Vacuo had on her. To be fair, she had grown up in Vacuo, and thought back to the people she had. This led her to see if she could find March, one of the only friends she recalled having of her age. Luckily for her, she figured out March was visiting Shade because she was planning to apply when she was old enough. March was confused when Ozpin had greeted her, but she looked up to the headmaster. She showed as much excitement as someone in Vacuo could show, but Oz knew she was excited. He remarked to March that he was there only to introduce her to someone. It was June, but March didn't recognize her at first. June told her who she was, and March had showed interest for where she went. June explained that she started to explore when she was 15, and that she was going to Beacon with Ozpin in a couple of days to attend. March started to show that same enthusiasm she showed when June first told her that she had some training. They spent the next couple of days recalling what had happened in the time they hadn't seen each other. In that time, Oz had gotten a scroll for June, which would let June talk to March when she went off to Beacon. March was sad that June was leaving, but they both knew that it was mostly because March wanted to go with her. They said their goodbyes, and they promised they would stay in contact. While June was on the plane, she couldn't help but think what was in store for her in the future.

This thus concludes the _Vacuo Saga_.


	7. The School Year Begins (Beacon Pt 1)

**Authors Note: **If you've gotten this far, then thank you for reading! But to explain, the story will be split into separate "sagas". That makes this story into separate stories, but making a new story every time seems rude. Making someone have to go to a new story every time one saga ends would be me trying to make more stories for no reason. Other than that, let the new saga begin!

The ship had landed at Beacon, and June was interested in seeing the school she was going to spend 4 years in. Ozpin had started to give her the tour of the school, starting with the courtyard and going on sequentially. From the dorms to the library, she saw the whole school. Oz then brought her to his office at the top of the school. Oz, knowing she didn't have a place to stay, gave June keys to one of the dorms to stay in before the beginning of the new semester. Oz kept it to himself, but something put him off about June. She would occasionally rub her eyes, and it felt like her eye color was didn't fit her. It was a bright red and they had popped out as it contrasted her hair color. Oz even overheard March bring up one of the reasons she didn't recognize June at first was that her eye color didn't seem familiar. When June went to get comfortable, he decided that he would leave the eye thing for another time.

After a couple months of preparation, the new semester had begun and new freshman had started to come in from the ship. June had headed to the auditorium and was joined by Oz, who was heading there to deliver his speech to the new freshmen. They had run into freshman and students alike while heading there, but one interaction would change June's life. They had bumped into a freshman Ozpin had his eye on since she applied. Ozpin had introduced June to Summer Rose, a new freshman. He specifically stopped for Summer to confirm something. June said hello and they both waved, but June then froze with eyes wide. She saw what was special about her. Her silver eyes had stuck out like a sore thumb when June noticed them. June had leaned in uncomfortably close to Summer's face. "Um...," she got out, and June realized what was wrong. She stopped and apologized. This had confirmed Ozpin's suspicion, and knew that she had known the legend of the silver eyed warriors. He would bring it up later, and they continued on to the auditorium.

His speech was nothing special. His usual brutal honesty had led to him appearing as rude, but it had motivated some of the students in a weird way. Truly, though, this was going to be an interesting 4 years for Ozpin. Between a silver eyed warrior and the mysterious June being a freshmen, he was interested in what was going to happen these next 4 years. Speaking of June, he had called her to his office to discuss something. June was confused, as he hadn't mentioned the reason for needing her. When she got to his office, he was waiting with his arms on his desk. He gestured her to take a seat, and had started to talk. "So, June, where do you come from?" June had answered simply that she grew up in Vacuo. Oz had decided to cut no corners, and after she said that, he asked, "Do you believe in fairy tails?" June didn't know what to say to the odd question, but she responded with a, "I guess it does seem bizarre to believe in them." Ozpin started to go on about the supposed origin of the seasons, but then got to the one he was looking for. "How about a legend? Of people with extraordinary power, people who could simply look at Grimm and kill them." June started to feel uneasy. Between them stopping for that Summer Rose, and the oddness of her being called without a reason, she suspected he knew something. "However, I feel that you may already know about that legend no one else does," he added. June stood up fast, knocking the chair over. Papers started to go flying, as in under a second June's hand was at Oz's throat. He didn't flinch, but June had started to talk, "My Dad had warned me about people hunting us, but I wouldn't have suspected a headmaster would be one of them." Ozpin had told her he had no intentions of killing her, and also added it was his school and that if he wanted to do so he could've already. June saw his point and backed off, but still didn't trust him. She asked how he knew about the legend. "I've been around a lot longer than you think," he said. June didn't like the answer and how vague it was but he was more secretive than her, so she decided the answer would have to do for now. June went back to the room where the freshmen were staying for the night when they had no dorms. The dorms had been used for teams, and June had been kicked out to get ready for it's future occupants. June hadn't planned to get too comfortable, and decided to sleep in her hood for a blanket. She was getting a chair when someone approached her. "Hello," Summer had said. June had responded back with the same. It seemed Summer had wanted to get know June. This was because, as weird as their introduction was, June was the only person she at least knew a name for. June remembered what she had done and again said sorry for getting too close earlier. Summer said it was fine and added that she was curious why her and Ozpin were walking together. She replied honestly, saying she was from Vacuo and that Oz personally brought her here. Summer was interested in what made Ozpin want her there, but she didn't ask many questions. Although she built up the courage to talk to June, she was still very awkward when it came to meeting new people. June was also not very good at talking to people, so the two didn't talk for long. Summer asked her about her weapon, though, and June showed her what it was but didn't explain its capabilities. Summer seemed to have an interest in weapons, telling June that they were fascinating to her. Even though they were both not good at interacting with new people, the weapon comment had made their conversation last longer. When Summer noticed the time and it seemed that they were finishing up, she said goodbye to June and told her good luck on the entrance exam.

The next morning was the important part. The entrance exam is an alternating test that is chosen randomly to prevent test predictability. The test this year would be the checker piece test. All the freshmen had lined up on the jump pads, Oz, waiting with his mug to explain the test, had started to explain. After explaining the eye contact rule and the chess pieces, he had let the test begin. As they began to launch off one by one, June had noticed where Summer had landed, but wasn't trying to get on her team. She decided that she would rely on fate for her teammate. She hadn't gotten to know anybody, but she had talked with the teachers while she was staying before the semester start. Being there was already differences between Vacuo and Vale and the people were already different from home, so she didn't know what to expect from her teammates. After a few Grimm encounters, she found someone. She had shoulder length hair that was a gray color and styled in a pony tale. Her outfit was, in June's own words, revealing, being a top and shorts. She had some armor for protection, but it was an opposite to June's outfit choice. They had made eye contact, so the girl introduced herself. "Hi, my names Ino," she started. All June had said was her name, and then they started to move together through the forest. Before Ino could say more, she told her that it would be best to focus on getting past the Grimm and finding the chess piece. Ino stopped talking after that. When they got to the pedestals where the pieces were put out, there were several other pairs grabbing pieces. This included Summer's pairing, of which was an edgy teenager girl with long hair with a red sword. They had grabbed the knight piece and started to head back. The Grimm had increased in intensity, the pair running into a couple Ursa's and finally a large pack of Beowolfs. June disposed of the Beowolfs quickly, finding they were easier to fight in Vale. The two had worked together to take down the Ursa's, finding that Ino's long range fighting style with her dual wield pistols and June's rapid close up assault tactics with _Angeli Cadunt_ worked nearly perfectly together. When all teams had gotten back, it was revealed that pairs that had picked the same pieces would be put together as teams. The students gathered in the auditorium to be put into teams. Right before June and Ino, Summer's team was revealed. "Summer Rose, Tai Xiao Long, Raven Branwen, and Qrow Branwen. The 4 of you gathered the white knight piece. You will now be known as team STRQ, led by... Summer Rose." Summer had looked nervous for a second, and hid farther behind her hood. It was June and Ino's turn next. Two boys had went up with them. One had jet black hair, similar to Amica's, but it was long with red stripes in the hair. The other boy had it very short with an odd forest green color, but he was also a shorter one. June had saw them in the forest fighting a Nevermore, one with what seemed to be a rifle. "Levi Cross, Uraclay Mckenley, Ino Yamen, and June." The lack of last name had caught some of the audience off guard, but Ozpin continued. "The 4 of you all acquired the black knight piece. From now on you will be known as team JULI. The team leader will be... June." June didn't show any emotion to being dubbed the team leader.

After the teams were all read aloud, they were assigned dorms. Class would begin tomorrow but the rest of the day would be used to let the freshmen settle in and unpack. While walking to her dorm, Summer had came up behind her. She asked her about being the leader of her team. June, being from Vacuo, explained that she wanted to get to know her teammates to understand what Vale's people were like. Summer offered to show her around the city when break came along. Ino, eavesdropping, heard this and butted in the conversation. She had also offered to show her around, showing interest in the fact that she came from Vacuo. Levi and Uruclay continued on to the room without saying a word to anyone else, but had gotten lost. June was able to show them where the dorm was, explaining she was given a tour of the school beforehand. This led to a witty comment from Levi, "Not even a full hour and you're acting like a leader." Levi was the one with the jet black hair. This led to him patting her on the back. She didn't like it, but she understood that it had good intentions. He was trying to get everyone comfortable with each other, as they would be a team for awhile, obviously. They had gotten to their dorm and started to unpack. June didn't know what she would do as leader. Levi and Ino had been getting along just fine and were talking about which part of Vale they were from, among other things. Uruclay was the one with dark green hair and he kept to himself. Once they all seemed finished unpacking, Ino asked where they all came from. It turns out Uruclay and Levi were lifelong friends who both attended Signal. They grew up in a more northern part of Vale. Ino had lived closer to Beacon, and graduated a different lower school from Levi and Uruclay. Then the question then came to June. She told them she was born in Vacuo, and that her father was a skilled Huntsman that had been the one who trained her. She added that she met Ozpin while he was visiting Shade, and he had offered her a place in Beacon after he saw her skill. Their first reactions showed disbelief. Between being only 16 and personally being brought by the headmaster to Beacon, this was understandable. Ino found her even more interesting. The next thing that Levi and Ino asked was about their weapons, more specifically being their origins and names. Ino's dual revolvers were the _Muerte Gris_, designed to hold heavy dust shells to inflict maximum damage. The guns had also been designed with a hidden blade in case she needed them, and she explained the name was an impulse from when she first had them made. Levi's was a black rifle with red stripes, resembling his hair. His rifle, the _Rote Bedrohung_, could fire two different shells at once for efficiency. The weapons origin, being the opposite of Ino's, was thought out well before the weapons construction. Levi then explained that Uruclay's weapon was named the _Geheimnisvoller Wald, _and that they both came up with their weapon names together. The weapon appeared to be a modified sickle that seemed to bulky to only be a sickle. They had moved on to June. She said that her weapon was forged as a favor from a friend of her Dads, and that the name was _Angeli Cadunt. _She was asked where the name came from, and she remembered its origin coming from her mothers death. She decided that she wouldn't tell them that, and told them it was something personal she didn't want to bring up. They didn't bother her about it, and continued the day getting used to their new room. June thanked Ino and Levi about the asking the questions, as it did help them all connect better. They said it was no problem, and then they all prepared to go to bed. June went to sleep that night, not knowing what life had in store for her the next day while she was in Beacon...


	8. The First Semester (Beacon Pt 2)

The next day was a hectic one in the school. New students were trying to figure out where class was and some were rushing to get ready. As hectic as it was, June was keeping her calm, while helping her team get ready and showing them where class was. Although she didn't feel ready for the role, she was trying to take it with a stride. After the first couple of classes, lunch had came around. The team got their lunch, but they had split up to find their friends. All except June of course. She sat by herself as she didn't see where her team went, and then thought that she should let them find their friends. To her surprise, Summer had taken a seat next to her. June was going to ask where her team was, then realized they all had sat down with her. June, after Summer asked where her team was, said they went to find their friends. Summer said that she seemed lonely and that her team didn't want to find anyone specific, so they didn't need to sit somewhere else. Well, there was Taiyang, but he had already went to find his friends. June didn't know what to think of STRQ, between the almost anti-social Summer, the quiet Branwen siblings that felt they were hiding something, and Tai's light personality, it was a very odd team. They stayed with June for the time, and then class had started up again.

The next class was the class focusing on battle strategy, but students referred to it as sparring class as it also put students against each other. As the name implies, the class was focused on honing battle skills and strategies with lessons on strategy, one-on-one fights, or, if the student had shown enough skill, could take on another team. This was the class people would here rumors about, mostly being that the class was the best class. However, there would be no sparring sessions on the first day of school. As the classes went on one-by-one, JULI became more tired. Once the clock hit six, they had been exhausted. June had tried to help them through it, but they were too tired and decided to rest at the dorm. Even with the grueling schedule, June didn't have a social life compared to some of the other students, including her team. Even Uruclay, who seemed like an introvert, still wanted to see if games of _Remnant: The Game_ were hosted in Beacon. This led to the rest of JULI looking up to June as a team leader more as the days went by. June wasn't one for trying to show off, but keeping her composure around her teammates would inspire them. Even with her being able to keep to herself, it would only prove to make temper short lived if she didn't find a way to cope with it soon.

Only half way through the first semester would prove this. The day had been a normal one, including the pestering during lunch. To explain, a couple weeks after the start of the year, a sophomore, named Kody, would shoot spitballs at JULI during lunch. He would occasionally mess with any of them in the hallway if he saw any of them. However, he mainly started to focus on June, as she showed no reaction to him doing this, and he wanted to see what would prone a reaction. It was starting to reverse, though, as he would get annoyed when June wouldn't move and show nothing. He even made her drop her food from one time, but she didn't show anything and just decided to not eat that day. It wouldn't have worked in a normal case if not for the stress she was already under from the school schedule and her extra responsibilities as a leader. In sparring class, the two fighting would be none other than June and Kody. The class was special this day, as sophomores who had an off block were allowed to view the fights, including being able to cooperate in fights if allowed by the professor. Kody had been one of them. Her normal response was to deny the pairing, as she usually did. Her grades had impressed the teacher, so he wouldn't force her to fight and wouldn't give her a bad grade for not sparring. She would have to spar eventually, though. Of course, no one thought this would be the day she accept, but there was quiet shock when she simply nodded her head and started to head down to the fighting stage. Kody was hiding his fear, knowing nothing about her fighting style, but dashed the thought thinking that the reason she didn't fight was because she couldn't. June never tried to intentionally get into fights for stress relief. However, she admits it feels good for her take it out on someone. When they were both ready, they walked out and took their positions. The teacher had let the fight begin, and Kody started to approach her. His weapon, _The Judgement_, was part power and part intimidation. It was a giant war-hammer, but was probably hiding some other function. Even with Kody getting closer, June hadn't moved, her blue, damaged hood hiding what was underneath. The fear he experienced beforehand had started to resurface, but similar to last time he dashed it. He decided to throw the first swing. As June suspected, it was slow, but fights with her father had only kept her on her guard. She dodged slightly and Kody was staggered from the swing. This only proved to June that Kody had been a bigger idiot than she thought. June had decided that she would draw out the fight, constantly dodging his swings. Kody was getting more angry as the fight continued. This led to a downward swing from Kody that June sidestepped easily. However, what she didn't notice was that the hammer had shot dust into the ground, causing a decently large quake that made June lose her balance. He fired again to get the hammer out and threw another swing. June, still trying to recover, barely had time to dodge, and the hammer just grazed her as she ducked under it, almost needing to use her semblance. Kody, surprised that she could still dodge it, thought he could get her again. When Kody turned to face June behind him, her expression was pale. There was a cut on her cheek that her aura regenerated quickly. It had been years since the last team she was cut or hurt in a fight, especially from an attack she could've anticipated. She wasn't as mad as the one time with her father, but anger only brought out her semblance's potential more. She was in front of him in a millisecond, and then there was a flurry of blue. The teacher didn't see connected hits, but when he checked board it said that Kody's aura was draining rapidly. Kody started to show the knock-back of consecutive hits and tried to take a swing at her, but June flanked him and continued her barrage. Their spectators were speechless, as all they could see was June standing still with lifeless gaze as a blue blur was surrounding Kody. He recoiled and tried to resist. His aura had run out, and June looked as though she was going to hit him again with _Angeli Cadunt_, which had been unsheathed out of nowhere, with a lethal blow. Right before the teacher could call it off, the nun-chucks flashed to her side and she had merely knocked him out with a jab. June had then fell to a crouch, her aura almost completely drained like the last time she went into a rage. Her semblance was drawn out with emotion, but every time something like this would happen, she could use her semblance better and more efficiently. The professor declared her the winner, and classes had ended for the day

The semester would go on. It was safe to say Kody wasn't going to mess with them any longer. This match, however, showed Ozpin what he wanted to know. In all honesty, he was the reason for the match up. He wasn't aware of Kody's pestering of June, but the reason he did was that Kody was at the top of his class in personal duels. Oz was also the reason for allowing the higher level students in the class that day. He wanted to see the June's skill and, although impressed by her easily taking him out once she took it a little seriously, the footage wasn't able to pick up her fast movements. In person, he could see her movements, but in footage it seemed he would need a more advanced computer. What interested him even more, is that it seemed she had more potential. If he could learn who she was and gain her trust by the end of the school year, he would introduce her to his group. As the weeks went by and the first semester was coming to a draw, June had made good friends with Summer, finding out that they had similar interests. This was not only their interest in weapons, but they both had quiet personalities and thought in same way. June was also connecting with her team more, Uruclay even starting to speak up to Ino and June instead of just talking through Levi. One day, at lunch, they were discussing where they were going for winter break. Ino was going to visit her family in Vale, and Uruclay and Levi said their families were going to join together in festivities. June said she was going to stay at Beacon for the break, but didn't mention that she was going to go to Vale with Summer who was going to give her a tour. "Oh come on, June," Levi said, "You could spend some time with your teammates for a break." He said this in a joking manner, but Ino followed up saying that she had to leave the school some time in a more serious tone. June followed up on Levi's offer and said that she might, joking, but then reassured them that she was simply staying in Beacon. She added that she was going to rest in the break still. They trusted her and didn't bother her further about it, but Levi kept making jokes about June's work ethic with things saying that she's a workaholic. The break had come and the first two weeks were nothing special. June had enjoyed being able to relax with no one in the dorm. Before Summer came to get her for the city tour, Ozpin had called her up to his office. Unlike before, he gave her an idea about what he was going to ask. When she got up there, Oz had taken a big sip from his mug. Oz had started the conversation, asking again where she had came from and grew up. June, trusting Ozpin a little more, had told her about Oraculi and her mother, as well as her training. She didn't mention her silver eye training or her being a prodigy, she also never mentioned her mothers death. "It must've been tough to leave your parents, and here I thought you had jumped at the offer to come to Beacon because you had no one left," was Oz's response. "Yeah, it... was," June paused. "You're not telling me all of it are you." Oz said. June sighed, telling Ozpin the truth about her mother, and the condition her father was left in after. She didn't know why she opened up to Ozpin, but she ended telling him that was the truth. Ozpin now saw why she wanted to leave Vacuo without needing much thought. Ozpin offered that if she ever wanted to go back to Vacuo to see her father that he would see about getting a ride there as fast as he could. June had denied it, stating that she wasn't crazy about visiting him anytime soon. Ozpin wasn't trying to push her into anything, but warned her that she might regret not seeing her father every once in awhile. She just ignored him, asking if there was anything else he wanted. He didn't bother her about it anymore and dismissed her, but thought that she might be making a mistake...


	9. An Interesting Tour (Beacon Pt 3)

The weeks had gone by and before June knew it, she heard a knock at her dorm. This was bound to be Summer because this was day they would have their "tour." June opened the door wearing her nightgown, having just woke up. She opened the door to find Summer, ready to go, but she looked embarrassed at first. June, confused for a second, realized what the problem was. Her nightgown was more... revealing and she forgot about it when she answered the door. She quickly hid behind the door, said sorry, and went to get dressed. Ignoring what happened, June was ready and they both went to the landing area to get a ride down to Vale. Summer, getting over that incident, had started to warn June that she didn't really head down into the city too often. June said that she was just happy to get out of Beacon and didn't really care if they just walked around for some time. Summer told her that she could go to Vale without her, and June had told her that she wanted to get to know her better. Summer looked away for a second, blushing slightly at the remark. She wasn't used to getting a comment like that, but she got over it and they eventually got on an airship heading down to Vale.

They had touched down in Vale and they started to walk around. June wanted to go to Vale's museum, always wanting to learn more about where she was. Summer showed a little surprise, but agreed to going as she didn't remember the last time she went. It was also to show June the city, so she was going to go anywhere June had wanted. Summer didn't really understand how someone could walk around a museum for hours and find any enjoyment from it, but they started to talk about. Although Summer suggested giving the tour, she didn't have much of an idea of where to go for the visit. June didn't mind just walking around, though, so Summer didn't worry about a place to go. They talked and walked for awhile, June talking about her life in Vacuo. Summer had asked what made her choose Vale and by extension Beacon. She talked about Ozpin's help, but also added that she wanted to go to Vale after researching the schools and their environment. Summer thought it was nice that June chose Vale, but also remarked that, if it was her, she probably couldn't have left her parents at 15. June hadn't told her about her mother, so this also meant that she didn't tell her the state her father was in after Angelus' death. The more they walked, the more they talked, and this would end up being more of a bonding experience between the two of them than either of them were expecting. The talking was mostly Summer telling her where they were and describing it, but they would talk about themselves if they Summer wasn't explaining something. This showed that their personalities were very similar, showing the only difference was that Summer grew up in a city so she knew some social ques and would get embarrassed by things that June didn't understand. For example, June realized that Summer wasn't comfortable when she answered the door that morning, but still couldn't understand why. Although she was felt weird doing it, Summer tried to explain some things of these things to her, but June would take awhile to understand. June told her that she didn't understand, but that she tried. This made Summer feel better that she didn't feel the same embarrassment, and made her respect June more. She wasn't very social herself, anyway. In bringing up her father and his training, it reminded her of Summer's silver eyes. She got curious and decided asking a few questions that might help her determine if she knew her powers. June started by asking Summer's favorite color, which, go figure, was silver, if not implied from her hooded cloak. The next thing she added that even her eye color was silver, remarking it's an uncommon eye color. Summer thought she was saying she was wearing color contacts, but told her that she wasn't. Realizing that it went over her head and that she was confused instead of shocked by the question, she could now see Summer's reasoning for not hiding them, as she probably didn't know. This sparked something June hadn't felt in awhile: Protecting life and something close to her. Summer would be hunted without her knowing, but she stopped herself from thinking about that. Besides, Summer was showing to be a good Huntress.

There was a bar they were getting close to, and June thought it would be a good idea to find a place to sit. She recommended it, but Summer said that they couldn't in a confused manner. June, about to ask why, realized she wasn't in Vacuo anymore and that laws were enforced instead of the rule in Vacuo. She told Summer that the majority of bars and inns in Vacuo meant they were the only places to stay. Summer understood, as June told her that she left home when she was 15, and said that there were plenty of other public areas to visit in Vale. They stopped by a cafe close by to rest a little, and to get drinks. The two talked more, Summer revealing that she lived in the city. This got her talking about where Team STRQ lived, saying that Taiyang, or Tai, lives on the Island of Patch on the coast of Vale. The Branwen twins only answer was that they lived somewhere outside of Vale. While talking about that, the two were interrupted. Speak of the devil, Tai was in the cafe with them. Tai introduced himself to June and she did the same. She quickly realized that Tai was more socially active than Summer, to say the least, as he was more willing to get to know people than her. That included asking about where June came from, which she gave the same answer to him as she did Summer. Summer asked what he was doing in the city, thinking he was going to visit his family on Patch. He said he did, but that he always enjoyed going to the city and relaxing that way. He explained that without defenses like in the city, Grimm could still show up near their house, though it wasn't common. He also was still given chores that he tried to get away from. He then asked June if it was the same on Vacuo's outskirts. "Yeah," she said, "except remove the uncommon part of Grimm attacks." Tai went with that, and continued on. June swore he could've been a teacher with how he explained things, adding that he would make a talented Huntsman when they all graduated. Actually, when she thought about it, the sparring matches she saw with members of Team STRQ showed they were all exceptionally skilled. There were also rumors that Ozpin had taken a liking towards them. Granted, it wasn't really a rumor with Oz sending them on a mission before the second semester, with Freshmen usually only allowed on missions after the second semester.

Tai, after about an hour, said he was heading back home. The two girls decided they should leave, and June thought it would be a good idea for them to head home. Summer almost asked why, thinking they would spend most of the day in Vale. June then realized it was only noon, but asked Summer if there was anything else for them to do. "I guess not," Summer added, sounding sad about her comment. June asked about the change in attitude, and Summer started to say that, besides her team, June was the only person she had gotten to know so far in Beacon, even adding that Qrow and Raven haven't talked much too. June felt a little bad about it, but got an idea. She said how about they get dinner if she still wanted to hang out. Summer paused for awhile, looking embarrassed. June was confused about why she looked embarrassed, oblivious to the social cue that asking someone to dinner implied. "What's wrong," June broke the silence. She added that if Summer couldn't make it, it was fine. "No! It would just be weird," Summer said. June, still confused, said that it was no different from spending the day together. Summer admitted she was right, and finally had an answer, saying that it sounded fun. Summer said she would come by 6:30 PM. They split up, June heading back to Beacon to rest and Summer heading back home to do the same.

June was in the library reading some books when the time had come. She almost forgot, but she was already ready beforehand and headed down to the landing area. She found Summer there, looking like she was about to go get her. She found it odd that she was staying behind her cloak more than she was that morning. The two went down to Vale and Summer brought them to the restaurant she talked about before they went home. The name had stuck out to June at first, but she didn't give it much thought. When they got there, however, the thoughts she had for that second were confirmed. It looked fancy, but it also seemed expensive and it worried June thinking that she might not be able to afford her side of the bill. Summer, noticing a concerned June, asked what was wrong. June asked her how expensive it would be to eat there, but Summer told her not to worry as she checked the prices earlier. June felt better after that, and they went in. It was nice, but it wasn't too much on the fancy side of places, which finally put June at ease. They were seated and then ordered drinks, water for them both. They talked while they were ordering, and this let June catch a glimpse of what Summer had worn. She didn't pay much attention to it, but it was definitely different from what she wore that morning. The dinner had gone by fast and the two had talked for awhile, finishing dinner before they were done talking. June was confused by Summers slight change in talking, and this also seemed to make the mood feel different, but it was probably because of the place they were in too. June thought it was nice, but it seemed unnecessary. When they were done talking they payed the bill and left. However, Summer offered to pay all of it. It was only after some arguing that June convinced her that she could pay her part, but she still couldn't convince her to let her pay the full price for her food. They walked out and June had said goodbye to Summer, planning to leave the same way she did last time. "No, wait," Summer blurted out. When June looked back, Summer's cloak had moved back from her hand movements. This showed that she was wearing a black and silver dress. Things started to make sense for June now. Between the first embarrassment Summer showed when June asked about dinner and the extra politeness she showed, as well as the mood change, then June started to blush a little. "Oh," that's all June could say for a little while. After a minute of silence between them, June started to apologize for not understanding how weird it was for her to ask. "So, you didn't like the dinner," Summer added. "No," it was June's turn to fumble over her words and blush. "I liked the dinner, it's just... I didn't intend it to feel... like a... date," June struggled to get it out. Summer looked hurt at first, but she began to smile, and started to walk with June back to the airship heading for Beacon. June did feel bad, now understanding what Summer felt like in awkward situations. June saw that Summer was smiling, but, with June realizing that only then that she thought it as a date, she could tell that it was probably hollow. When they got there, June had blurted out what she was thinking. She told her and said she was sorry a near uncountable amount of times, adding that she really didn't know that if she knew, she would've made herself look good. She also added that she really liked it and that she wouldn't mind doing it again. After she stopped and they stood there for a couple times, Summer had surprised her. She leaned in and kissed her. Summer was hot rod, and then said goodbye. June only said OK and was basically in autopilot on her way back to Beacon. She was like this the day after as well...


	10. The First Mission (Beacon Pt 4)

**Author's Note:** This'll be quick. The Grimm presented in this chapter were shown at the beginning of Volume 6, and I thought giving some warning would be needed. This is because I don't explain what they look like and rely on the show to do that for me, so if you haven't gotten to Volume 6 yet you won't be able to visualize what these Grimm look like. Don't worry, though, there are no spoilers for Volume 6 itself! Unless you count revealing Grimm as a spoiler. Now, lets get on with chapter 10!

A few days had passed since June's "tour" and the new semester had started. June kept to herself about what happened, but still sat next to Team STRQ with JULI. She felt awkward the first couple of days, but felt better after that. It was a week after the semester had started and June decided she would ask Summer what that day meant after she felt more comfortable. It turns out that Summer had felt bad for it, thinking that she didn't "swing that way" and that she forced it. June told her that she was fine with it and didn't mind, but was figuring things out. The two stayed friends, but June would soon made up her mind to be with Summer. As the semester went on, and mission after mission followed, Team STRQ proved themselves to be the best, but JULI was behind them. This meant that their first mission wasn't supposed to be as glamorous as some of STRQ's missions, much to the teams dismay.

JULI's first mission was to help a convoy transporting supplies to an outpost. The route was expected to be low on Grimm activity at that time. It was also longer than the usual route, but the supplies being brought weren't too important to rush. JULI departed from the school and were brought to the where the convoy would be leaving. The flight wasn't too long, and before they knew it they were on the way. The trip would take two days, one for getting there and the other for getting back. Almost nothing had happened on the way to the outpost, the occasional Beowolf attack from time-to-time. "Why did we have to get stuck with this," Ino said, sounding bored. "I think it's fine," Levi added, "It's a nice a break from all the work. Well, for us that is." They both looked at June, who was flipping through a textbook. She heard that, but kept on studying. Uruclay was also relaxing by tampering with his weapon. Ino and Levi brought up that even though they could relax a bit, they still had to keep an eye out just in case. June, hearing this, tipped the textbook down a bit. This revealed that her scroll was on, and it had camera views of the convoy to keep an eye out while she was studying. She sent the footage to the rest of them. They all thought they would be a worse team without her, but they didn't take offense to this. After a full semester with her, they knew she had the best intentions in mind, and they didn't mind being carried by her occasionally. She also never showed any intention of bragging about being better, telling them that she was happy to have skilled team members. Levi and Ino kept talking for the rest of the trip, taking out Grimm from time-to-time since they had the longer ranged weapons. In a continuation of their past conversation, Ino showed why she didn't like being sent on the mission. "I still think that STRQ gets too much attention from Ozpin. It's a little unfair," Ino started. "They do, but they are skilled enough to get through the missions they're sent on," Levi told his opinion, and he continued, "I can't say that I'm fine with it, but I think that we have to understand that they might be better than us." They all saw STRQ's fights and knew how skilled they were, but still didn't like the extra appreciation. All of them except June, who didn't really care about the team's performance. She was more occupied trying to better her own team and her own skills. As much as they didn't like the praise STRQ got, they still sat with them in lunch almost everyday and had gotten to be friends with half the team. They felt less menacing since they first met them, but the Branwen twins still kept quiet. Qrow, however, seemed to be talking a bit more. Ino stopped talking about them, as she liked Tai and didn't want to make them think she hated them.

After a couple more hours, the convoy reached its destination and began to unload the supplies. Ino, Levi, and Uruclay helped unpack the supplies while June reported activity to the standby Huntsman protecting the outpost. June reported the activity, confirming with footage that Grimm activity was still low. The Huntsman, who looked a little old, believed her and came out to help with the unpacking. June kept an eye out for Grimm. Once the supplies were confirmed, June and the Huntsman went into the outpost to confirm the supplies. The rest of JULI kept watch with the other guardsmen. Ino noticed it first, and then Levi and Uruclay did as well. There were shadows moving over them, and when they looked up they saw Grimm flying high in the sky. A guardsman explained that they didn't attack, and that, besides it being a small outpost that wasn't high priority, it was part of the reason that air transport wasn't allowed there. However, the Grimm weren't in a good mood today, and they had started an attack. It was a pack of Manticores and the Sphinx alpha. Before the guardsman of the sector could alert the outpost, he was killed by a Manticore. JULI had barely enough time to start fighting back. The Manticores would prove a problem, but the Sphinx was going to be the biggest problem of all. Ino had slid under a Manticore, took out its legs with _Muerte Gris'_ blade, and killed it by firing at its throat at point blank range. Uruclay and Levi, knowing Ino was capable of fighting for herself, worked together to take out some of the Manticores themselves. The two had a technique against Grimm with what seemed to be heads. Levi would stun the beast with shock dust rounds, and while it stumbles, Uruclay would rush in and cut its legs or disable it more in another way. Then, Uruclay would use the _Geheimnisvoller Wald_ to cut the head off the beast. This worked a couple times, but the rest would be taken out by shear force, or another strategy. Ino and Levi would occasionally combine each others firepower to overpower a Manticore. After a couple minutes, the Manticores were killed off and the Sphinx was the only one left. It would, however, prove to be a major challenge for them all. Even with Levi's largest dust rounds and combined firepower with Ino, the beast would only be stunned for under second. This wasn't nearly enough time to give Uruclay an opening. They would have to get close without being hit, which proved difficult because of the Sphinx's tail. The tail, which seemed to be a Grimm of its own, would prevent any attack from behind. They came up with a strategy. Levi would provide firing support with _Rote Bedrohung's_ most powerful attack: A charged dust shot that took a lot of ammo but packed a powerful punch. He could use it a few times before he ran dry. While he would start the initial fire, Ino and Uruclay would flank it from both its sides while it was stunned. The two started to charge the Sphinx, and right before it could attack them, Levi fired. The beast recoiled from the blast and appeared stunned. Both Ino and Uruclay started to attack its sides. However, before they could do any major damage, the tail had attacked Ino. She was forced to dodge, and the Sphinx had recovered from the blast, forcing Uruclay off of it. They expected this, but before Levi could follow up, the Sphinx had launched a fireball at Levi. None of them knew it could do that, so Levi was caught off guard and took a direct hit. His aura was drained and was almost completely depleted. Ino and Uruclay got too distracted, and the Sphinx had tail whipped them both as a follow up. They were knocked into a wall, and their auras were brought down below half. They were taught only a little about Sphinxes, the knowledge being from some studying themselves, they weren't taught in class about what they could do yet. Although Uruclay and Ino were able to get back up and fight, it was obvious that they wouldn't be able to win with just the two of them. Ino started to head into the outpost, telling Uruclay to stay far from the Sphinx while she got June and the Huntsman there. Before Ino could go, however, the Sphinx took off and landed in her path. She was struck by another tail whip. Even with some speed training provided by June, she wasn't fast enough to dodge. She was knocked out of commission and Uruclay was the last one able to fight. He would need range to try to avoid it, so _Geheimnisvoller Wald's_ true function would come in handy. The scythe was able to cover its blade, making it a handle, and the normal handle would become a gun barrel. This gave the weapon a ranged attack and let him attack from range. He couldn't keep his range for long, though, and the Sphinx exploited this. The Sphinx took off and disappeared in the sky. He didn't know where it went, checking his surroundings. The Sphinx rushed him from above, and he wouldn't be able to dodge it in time. He was preparing to try and fight back, hoping that he could hold it off. It would be futile, though. That's when a blue blur surrounded the Sphinx. It recoiled from the force, sending it into the ground next to Uruclay. Its body lay lifeless as it started to disappear. Uruclay, confused what happened, turned around to see June helping Levi up. June had taken it out in under a couple seconds. Even the Huntsman there wasn't responsible for helping, as he came 10 seconds too late. They knew she was skilled, but she never showed this much ability before. Ino, having fought with her in the Emerald Forest, was also shocked by the skill present, and realized she held back in the forest.

June helped them all up and they had departed back to Vale the next day. Ino, Uruclay, and Levi had been silent the majority of the trip. They were still shocked from the near death experience they had, and June's almost terrifying abilities. Ino decided to break the silence, asking June why she never decided to show them her skill. Her response was simple: She never needed to before, and that there was no reason to show it without needing to. She also thought there was a chance that it could demoralize them if she did show it off for no reason. Her intentions were revealed, and they saw her point. They were still concerned about it, thinking that she wasn't being completely honest with them. After all, this was more impressive than beating Kody the way she did. They had gotten back to Vale and were on there way back to Beacon when Ozpin had contacted them to ask about the mission. June told him everything went fine until a Sphinx and its pack attacked. She said she would explain in detail after he watched footage of the fight. The fight was recorded by a nearby camera. Oz saw everything that happened, and he was impressed. June had surprised him yet again, but JULI as a team had showed their skill fighting the Manticores, and he was impressed by them. However, he called June to his office, alone. June waited, knowing how long it took to ride the elevator up. Ozpin went over the report June wrote, talking about the mission. He explained that he would let JULI go on more dangerous missions since proving their capabilities. He then told June not to worry, reasoning that she could help them train to get better. Oz, however, had told June that he was planning on trying something new with her. He would start sending his most capable students on solo missions. These missions were not required to pass the semester, the way team missions were, but could be used as extra credit. The jobs might also give pay for the student. He wanted June to be the first student to do this, but would wait till her second year to send her on one of these solo missions. He also explained that these would be mostly stealth missions where a team would be too many people. June told Oz she would look it over, and headed back down to the dorms. She kept what Ozpin had said to her about solo missions to herself, but she gladly told them that they would be allowed on higher priority missions. Their mood was brightened by this and they were excited to see what the next mission would be.

Team JULI would continue to go on missions, always one step behind STRQ, though. Other than their first mission, the rest of the semester was uneventful for JULI, and was uneventful in general. There was drama, as usual, but June would ignore it and help her teammates get through it if they were involved in anything. She would also help them study and train, but not too much to let them catch a break. June would start to spend time with Summer outside of lunch and in the free time they got after school. Summer told June that she wanted to spend time with the rest of her team during summer break, and revealed that Raven and Qrow, mostly Qrow, had started to talk more and more. Tai was the reason for this, as he would pester them a lot about who they were. Summer thought it would be great for the team to relax together, which would help them all bond. June thought it was smart, and said that she might take her idea. Summer also added that she wanted to spend more time with her. June blushed for a second, but then said that it was a good idea. June had turned 17 nearing the end of the semester, but she only told Summer her birthday after it had happened. "Why didn't you tell me," Summer said, seeming a little mad. June told her she wasn't used to celebrating her birthday, so she didn't feel she wanted to. Summer got a little mad, but angrily told her she would throw her an amazing birthday next year. June wasn't going to stop her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to anyway. The Semester had ended and the first year of June's time at Beacon had ended...


	11. Bonding Time (Beacon Pt 5)

Summer had begun, and, with it looking like the winter break, June was alone in the dorm. However, JULI planned on spending time together more into the break. In the meantime, June planned to get a job. After looking for jobs inside the city, she decided that none of them would be a good choice for her, so she went with Huntsmen jobs. When she looked into, it seemed that she needed a way to prove she was a Huntsman, unlike the outskirts of Vacuo. To move around this, she asked Ozpin for a way past this. Having knowing her skill and his guessing that she had silver eyes, he had given her a new scroll that had a special pass that allowed her to take jobs. With this, she had made an income the first couple of weeks. After that, JULI started to spend time together. Ino had came back first, then Levi and Uruclay. There wasn't much to do, but they decided that playing games, board and video games, was something fun to do while they figured out things they would all like to do. They would also go to places in Vale, like the movies, and they would also go to parties on campus. June didn't really want to go to the parties, but she wanted to spend time with her teammates. They weren't very fun for her, as even though they were full of in-training Huntsmen, they still acted a little irresponsible. Surprisingly, Uruclay actually tried talking to some people there. June was also hit on and flirted with quite a bit which, again, only made her remember the worst parts of Vacuo. She would either ignore them or tell them that she was only 17. This got a compliment about her looks and height, but they would eventually leave. Some of them would stay, not believing her and doubting that she was a student. After some more ignoring on her side, they would leave. While June told them they should have their fun, the rest of JULI didn't want to keep forcing June to go to these parties.

Before the last couple of weeks, June and Ino spent time together. This involved Ino introducing June to her friends that she had outside of Beacon. This involved some of her friends that preferred messing around with June's hair than getting to know her. She made friends with some of them, but probably wouldn't talk to them without Ino being there. Ino mentioned a party that a majority of friends were going to, which was also going to be hosted by someone she indirectly knew. She didn't plan to mention this to June, but she over heard her talking about it. June brought up that she knew to Ino, but said that she would go and try to meet people. Ino got excited and used this as a way to get June to go to a salon, but she warned June that it was going to be big. She was told she didn't mind, adding that trying to get to know people outside of Beacon would be a good idea. June was already attractive without needing much work and makeup, so Ino was curious what she would look like with makeup. After their visit and some help from Ino, June had gotten makeup, her hair styled, nails done, given a dress by Ino, and more. The dress, which Ino got for her for the occasion, was a vibrant blue, form fitting dress which was also backless. It revealed June's near perfect hourglass figure, and Ino had almost blushed when she saw her in it. Anyway, Ino found that the hardest part of doing this was not getting her to wait for everything to be done, but asking her to remove her hooded cloak. After about 30 minutes of Ino trying to convince her to take it off, she complied. She left it at her dorm, hidden well making sure that no one would find it if someone broke in. When they got to the party, it was as big as Ino warned. June was already getting hit on and flirty comments before she even got into the place. Ino, having gotten ready with her, was getting jealous about it, but focused on helping her socialize. When they got in, June felt uneasy about the people. They reminded her more of people from Vacuo, with drinking and partying accustomed to some of the citizens. She started to realize that Beacon students were more responsible than she though. She did try to talk to people, though, with Ino helping her around. Ino, however, got carried away and went off to find her friends that were there. After avoiding some rather grabby people, and not being able to find Ino, she found a place that wasn't as rowdy. Who she found, though, truly surprised her. Summer was sitting with Raven, doing nothing. Summer saw June and the other way around. Both of them were surprised to see that they were there, and they started to talk. Summer was very red when she first saw June, but ignored it while they talked. Summer heard why she was there and June learned how she got there. STRQ was spending time together and Tai had brought up the party. Apparently he knew the person hosting, who was more popular than June thought, so he wanted it to be a way for the more antisocial members of STRQ to socialize. Qrow was even walking around with Tai and socializing, but Summer stayed with Raven who thought it was stupid. Summer asked June why she wasn't wearing her cloak, and June told her that Ino said that she should take it off for looks. Summer said that she liked the cloak, but complimented her current dress. She also added, blushing, that she looked very stunning. June also blushed while giving a thank you. They talked for the rest of the time they were there, but they left the party and found a quiet place to talk more. The more they talked, the more they payed attention to what each other were wearing. Compliment after compliment had led to flirting and that had led to them kissing. Eventually they were flat out making out. While Summer was on top of June, June's scroll had gone off. She checked and saw that it was Ino and freaked out a bit. In fact, they both got a little scared, remembering why they were there in the first place. They went back and found each others team leaving, and were embarrassed when they realized Summer, when she got there, wasn't wearing lipstick. While they were alone, it seemed Ino and Tai found each other and also got scared when they realized they couldn't find the two people they brought. Everything turned out fine, though Ino didn't get to party as hard because of the June. She enjoyed it though, and was happy June had tried to do something different

The rest of the summer wasn't as interesting as that night, Uruclay, Ino and Levi spending time in Vale while June spent her time outside of Vale moving between different outposts to complete jobs. June was accustomed to this nomadic style of moving, being one of the reasons she's would make a great Huntress. Ozpin kept an eye on her through her jobs, needing to see what type of mission she excelled in. He found it difficult to determine what she was best at, as she showed equal skill on every job she completed. Although she showed very little social interaction when she was simply clearing out Grimm for an outpost, she showed much more interaction with clients when it involved their protection. This included her calming a wife who was worried about moving through the outskirts of Vale with her husband, and another time where the client, a strong looking delivery man, had thought she was too young to protect him and his cargo. She stayed quiet and didn't interrupt him while on the trip, the only thing she did was to quickly wipe any Grimm that came too close, her job. She had earned his respect and he even complimented her by saying that some graduated Huntsmen didn't scale up to her. After evaluating the different jobs she did and reports about what happened, Oz had decided that she would be fit to go on this special solo mission for good. Before the beginning of the new year, Ozpin had requested June come to his office. He told her that she would be going on the mission, but to be prepared for one to come at random. She obliged, but then thought about her team. She agreed to this mission awhile back, and although she knew her team well then, she got to know them more and had more time to think. She told Oz her concern, but he said that the choice was hers. After some thinking, she made up her mind and told him that she didn't want to go on the mission after all. Oz simply smiled and told her that he wouldn't consider anymore solo missions. She left that office confused by his reaction, as she expected him to show disappointment or even resistance to her changing her mind. It only confused her more when she thought about it, thinking that not being able to even try something knew would be disappointing. She was happy anyway, glad that she could think about her team instead of for her own benefit. She was able to overcome change, and already wanted winter break when the new year started...


	12. The 30th Vytal Festival (Beacon Pt 6)

Although the first semester of their second year wasn't differing from the norm, JULI was put under immense pressure in the second semester. The reason? The 30th biennial Vytal Festival Tournament and celebration. This one, however, was even more pressuring than normal because it was supposed to be held last year. It was delayed because a large collection of aerial Grimm had prevented the moving of the tournament arena. To some this came as a shock because it was protected by the Atlas military, but most of the residents of Vacuo, the city holding the 30th festival, weren't surprised by it at all. Most of them were surprised that it took 60 years before something like this would happen. This delay would lead to two Vytal Festivals being held in two years to even the numbers. This only put more pressure on JULI, and the rest of the Huntsmen in Beacon. They were all being given far more extensive training than they were their first year and with teams that helped train each other, like JULI, there was more pressure on each teams best. Only a couple weeks before the end of the year Beacon students who were going to compete in the tournament were being sent to Vacuo. Team JULI and STRQ were one of the two teams out of eight set to compete for Vale. June was happy with her team that they could compete, but she kept to herself that she didn't want to go back to Vacuo. The fly there had been a couple of days long, with JULI and STRQ celebrating that they both could compete. On that note, Summer threw June a surprise birthday since she would turn 18 while flying to Vacuo. Summer wanted to make it special, but felt there was only so little that she could bring on the ship besides what their teams were packing. Even with that, the rest of JULI had all gotten one gift each for her and STRQ, as a team, would give her a gift. The surprise was done near dinner, and they had celebrated with a birthday cupcake. June went with it and then they started to give her her gifts. Summer gave her the gift that STRQ pitched in for, which was a new hooded-cloak. "The rest of Team STRQ pitched in for the material, and then I sewed it for you," Summer added. June sat silent for a bit, looking at and holding the blue cloak. After that, she told Summer thank you, holding back tears. Not only had it been clear to both of them that they liked each other, now she was starting to remind June of her mother. She moved on from that, getting to what her teammates had given her. Levi and Uruclay went with a theme, getting her kits that would allow her to clean and tamper with her weapon more easily. Then, Ino gave her something that almost scared her. They were color contacts that came with a kit that helped manage them. Ino joked that her red eyes never went with her character and that blue eyes would be more fitting. June laughed it off, but was worried a little. However, she finally had different contacts than the ones her dad had. She realized that she had more hate for them than she thought, so new ones seemed to be nice. The rest of the flight wasn't very exhilarating.

When the ships had landed in Shade, both teams had to settle in the new dorms that they were staying in for the time they were. "Home-sweet-home," was the first thing June said when they got there, but it was very sarcastic. After living in Vale for almost two years she had found more distaste for the city. However, the Shade students were more hospitable to her team and STRQ, and this trend would probably continue as more Beacon students arrived. Part of it was respecting that they were picked for the tournament, but it was also in part of the Great War. Although it had ended and the festival was to support unity among the kingdoms, Shade students were still aware of which side each kingdom was on. Another reason for some Shade students respecting June specifically was that she was from Vacuo. Her skilled reputation had spread there because of that fact. Another part was that it was found out that she was the wandering "Huntress" that protected the outskirts, so students that came from the outskirts had a respect for her. The rest of JULI, however, were a little worried about the odd looks they were getting. They asked June about it, and she explained that they were lucky nobody was saying anything. She also added that the looks were a way of showing respect, as an Atlas team walking by had proved to them. The team had been scolded walking through the school, with them being stopped and challenged by another team. JULI started to feel better. There was one outlier, though. She was a Shade student named December Folie, who had long, dark red hair that went almost to her waist and had crimson eyes. She was one of the best in the school, being in one of the teams chosen to fight for Vacuo. She knew who June was and stopped her while she was walking to her dorm. They made death glares at each other, and June realized the challenge. December, who stood a couple inches lower than her, shoved past her and whispered something for her to hear, "Your're a disgrace." June ignored it, but JULI was worried about the encounter. June told them not to worry and focus on why they were there. The festivals tournament wasn't being held for another week because of the preparations the Amity Colosseum required. The festival was being celebrated in Vacuo, though, so JULI and STRQ wanted to enjoy the festivities. June had always wanted to go to the Vytal Festival, but now she didn't know with her feelings for Vacuo. She went with her team and enjoyed what she could. It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be, until Summer asked her a question that she didn't want to be asked. "Don't you want to see your parents," was the question she asked. June never thought she hear that, but what surprised her even more is that she felt she had to see her father. June told her she didn't know, but Summer had pushed her to see him. June explained to her that she needed 4 days to travel to where she lived, and back. Summer understood, but still wanted to go with her. She also understood that she would be leaving her team for that time. She was confident in her team, though, and trusted that they could enjoy themselves and that they were trained well. June decided that she would bring her. The trip was grueling for Summer, not being used to the desert heat. June, however, was determined to get this trip over with, so she went as fast as she could go with a camel. Then, they got to that house. June almost cried when she stopped next to the tombstone. Summer was confused by what it was, or who it was for. When June had keeled down to place flowers there, Summer asked who it was for. June had wiped away the dust from the title to reveal the name 'Angelus'. "Who... is it," Summer had broken the silence. "My mother," June responded. Summer was shocked, now realizing why June may not have wanted to come home. June started to head towards the house, which looked as though it was abandoned. Now Summer had started to feel bad and had many questions, but she saved them for later. June told Summer to wait outside while she got her father. Summer waited and waited until it had been 30 minutes. Summer had thought something was wrong and decided to see what was wrong. Before she could go in, however, June came out. She looked as though she had been crying before she came back down, and told Summer that she should head back to the camel. While Summer was heading back and started waiting near the camel, June had taken fire dust crystals and powder left by her father and spread it around. Then, she reread the piece of paper and cried even more than she did when she first found it. Summer asked if she could see her father when she came back. June said nothing, got on the camel, and started to head back. Summer didn't want to ask anything until she saw a house fire start. Summer didn't understand what was happening and asked June, scared what was happening to the house. "He's dead," June had said at a near inaudible volume. Summer understood now, and June started to cry. Summer, even through the heat, comforted June all the way back to Shade.

The trip had only taken 3 days, and June hadn't talked in the time leading up to the tournament. Whenever JULI would train together in that time, she was harsher than usual. Then the first day of the tournament had come. As much as June was going through, she was able to lighten herself and motivate her team before the first match. The first match, which was JULI vs an Atlas team, CAMO, was going to be important for JULI's reputation in Shade. June didn't care, as she never had any reason to go back after that festival, but the rest of her team didn't know how to feel about it. Both the teams had lined up in the center of the coliseum, waiting for the announcers to present the environments they would be fighting in. The two areas that were selected were the desert and geyser arena. Although this would imply a home field advantage for June, the Atlas military had trained in many artificial environments. June had known this, and gave warnings to the rest of JULI and STRQ in upcoming fights against Atlas students not to underestimate them. JULI kept their composure and the fight was started. JULI moved to the desert area while CAMO had moved to follow up on them. JULI had been the closest to the desert, so they had more cover against CAMO. Ino and Levi had used suppressing fire to prevent forward advancements from CAMO. Levi had stopped firing, CAMO assuming that they were planning something else that required him. Their flank, however, wasn't an issue because JULI had made the mistake of being almost completely in the open, other than the rocks they had found for cover. The leader of CAMO, Cernal Cloak, had done research on every team from each academy that was selected. He had access to some mission data that revealed their weapons capabilities. He was still concerned, though, as June had revealed next to nothing about herself on missions and in her reports. One of the only things he knew was that she was able to move at fast speeds, showing him that she focused on speed tactics. He did know about Levi's weapon, the _Rote Bedrohung_, had a charged shot that would be able to wipe out cover they were hiding behind. His guessing was proven right, and Levi had come out while Ino ducked to reload to fire that shot. He fell for the trap, and Cloak used his weapon, the _Liberation's_, anti-gravity deflection field to fire the shot back at their cover. Levi and Ino stayed behind the cover and had nothing to stop the shot from connecting. The destruction had brought up a cloud of dust, which CAMO's members that had firing capabilities had fired into to prevent movement of JULI. The dust had cleared and JULI was gone. Before it could fully clear, there was a blur behind Cloak and, before he could react, June had kicked him into the air and sent him flying into the far wall. This had knocked him out of the battle by ring out, and the crowd had gone wild about June's impressive appearance. The announcers had started to break down what had happened. JULI had appeared to take the better place, but CAMO's sudden advancement had played into their plan. June was no fool, and researched the team the same way he did for them. However, Cloak hadn't tried to hide his weapons abilities, so June had strategically planned around what their key player would do. She used her semblance, which was unknown to them, to quickly get behind them without alerting them. With most Atlas teams, the team leader was the key person, this one being no different than the others. The rest of CAMO were eliminated rather quickly, Levi and Ino taking out their supporting fire, Uruclay turning his scythe blade into a handle to pull another member into a geyser and the last being another quick ring out by June. The first explosive round was concluded, and the crowd had cheered JULI very clearly.

JULI had to wait 4 days until the beginning of the duo rounds of the tournament, 4 battles taking place everyday. STRQ had eliminated the Shade team they were paired with, and JULI was there to support them in the crowd. STRQ's fight was on the second day, so the teams had spent the rest of the time together in the festival. Summer didn't bring up her and June's visit to her home. June had decided to look for someone, and brought Summer with her. The last day of fights in the first round, June and Summer went back to the fighting arena to look for June's somebody. This someone was March, who was very passionately cheering for the Shade team in the last fight of the day when she saw June. They hugged and June introduced March to Summer. March was uneasy, but June told her that she was part of one team sent to fight from Beacon. March warmed up to her quickly, adding that she recalled seeing them win against a Shade team. Summer got a little scared, but March was joking and laughed when she freaked out. June was happy to see her friend again, and remembered what she miss if she never came back to Vacuo. Then, another surprise had shown up. March had gone to the festival with her family. Amica had seen June for the first time in years, and he had much to say. He treated her with respect, as one Huntsman should to another. August and May had been there as well, with May not being able to enjoy herself watching the fights. She said hello to June and June said it back. June spent the rest of the day with March and her family, and she even joined them in dinner. They caught up on everything, mostly June to Amica as March had been using the CCT tower to talk to June every once in awhile. Amica was impressed to hear how well she was doing, between taking Huntsmen jobs during breaks and her team showing much skill in their first fight. After the dinner, they had bid each other a goodbye and they promised to watch all the matches she would be in.

The next day held the first 4 matches of round 2, or the duos round. Ino and June, who were chosen out of JULI to compete, would be the first match of the second day. Summer and Raven were chosen out of STRQ to move on, and they had beaten a duo from Atlas. June and Ino were set to compete against a duo from Haven. Yet again, the contestants were lined up opposite of each other and the fighting environments would be randomized and picked. The 4 environments were the Obsidian Glass Fields, which was almost completely flat with some hilly elements to it that provided little cover, the Ice Fields, Grass Fields and a broken down urban area. The timer started to count down until the starting sound had gone off. Right before the Haven students could get off initial dust fire on JI, June had grabbed Ino and the two vanished. The Haven duo set out and started to cut the tall grass in the fields because they saw movement in them. However, the other kept an eye on the environments around them, making sure that they weren't attempting to flank them. One of their team members had watched the fight between JULI and CAMO, warning them that June appeared to possess fast speed. This had explained their sudden disappearance at the beginning of the battle. While they were checking the grass, a sudden hail of fire had bombarded their position from the urban sector. They were able to find cover in the Ice, but then the assault had stopped. One of them peaked cautiously, but they weren't fired at when they came up from cover. That's when they noticed that that there was what appeared to be a blue cape coming from a covered part of the Obsidian Glass Fields. They decided that it was June and defeating her would call for an easy victory, so they moved to the fields. The girl had stayed out in the ice just in case it was a trap and to provide support if Ino showed up again. They were right. It seemed the Obsidian Glass had a secret: Gravity was wonky because of anti-gravity dust that controlled it. The advancing student found this out quickly as he started to float without control, and he was confused by why June wasn't responding to the change, not knowing that her weapon used anti-gravity dust. June came out of cover and exposed herself to the support who was in the Ice Fields, but before she could fire, Ino had appeared behind her and knocked her out when her guard was down. This meant that she was considered defeated and that the other Haven student was the last one left. With him being stuck in the air, June eliminated him swiftly with one kick to get him out of the ring, which was starting to become a staple of hers. The crowd had cheered once more for June and Ino.

The next day was a break to let winning teams pick their finalist, and give some time for people to put in extra training or rest. The 8 winning duos had selected their final competitors, Team STRQ selecting Summer and JULI picking June for Vale, Haven had one team that made it, Atlas pulling 3 and Shade got 2 in. It wasn't surprising to figure out that December was one of the contestants in the finals. Each of the 4 fights were going to take place one day at a time, the first fight taking place between Summer and an Atlas finalist. Summer had won, but it wasn't easy for her. June helped her relax once the fight had ended, and also celebrated the win. The fight for the next day would be chosen after each fight. After Summers fight, June was chosen to fight... December. The crowd had had a mini cheer simply for this match up, as it was no secret that the two were among the most skilled to be in the tournament that year. Although June wasn't cocky, she was always confident in her abilities, so she didn't freak about the pairing the same way others did when they were paired against Decembers team. JULI and STRQ believed in June, but December was one of the people that everyone had researched because they were scared. They all had an idea of where they had stood in skill, and it seemed they were equals.

The next night had come quick for many, with the Amity Colosseum being more packed than any other fight before. Even some Haven and Atlas students had tuned in to see the fight, as they were curious what was going to happen too. June and December had came up to the final ring, which started to rise once they both were on the stage. The countdown had begun and the crowd was roaring with yells to hurry and start it. December had shown her battle gear, which was onyx, spiked armor that would deter close contact. What most people didn't know, is that December would fight even more seriously than she had before. This was because of her distaste of June, which came from her originally leaving Vacuo. December was very patriotic and found anyone who left to be deserters. The clock hit 0 and December had showed her speed, which led her to almost speed blitz June. Not even Oraculi was that fast. December took a slash with her weapon, the _Resurgens Daemon, _which was a smaller than average great-sword that made it lighter. June flipped upside down and used the sword as a base to push herself into December, who was knocked back. June glanced to check her aura on her scroll, a natural thing she did, but the result surprised her. Even with the small use of her semblance her aura was drained farther than usual. This led to some theories, but she manage to figure out a function of _Resurgens Daemon_. The weapon had a way to siphon aura on contact, an excellent counter to faster combatants that tried to use her weapon against her. For the first time in the tournament, June had decided to bring out _Angeli Cadunt_. The crowd was put into a flurry over this, and Amica even started to cheer for June as this would be the first time he would see the weapon used. Decembers plan, however, was ruined. She was banking on the fact that June wouldn't be able to figure out her weapons function that soon. They started to circle the ring, with December making petty comments about June's leaving of Vacuo. This wouldn't bother June, but with recent events coming back into memory, she found that the comments were getting to her. June had enough, and fell for her taunting. She charged first and the two started to clash weapons. They matched each others speed, but June had realized a problem she didn't have often: She had natural barriers on her semblance. The only way she could start to outrun December was to break those barriers, but she didn't know how. This thinking and Decembers taunting had dulled her speed, and she was able to get an overhead slash on June that would've knocked her out. One of her semblance barriers could be broken by being put under pressure, which this attack had done. June was able to catch _Resurgens Daemon_ with _Angeli Cadunt's_ chain. Although December wasn't expecting her sudden burst of speed, she now knew that June couldn't keep a consistent speed faster than hers. She was in a struggle with June, but December had caught her off guard. All of sudden _Resurgens Daemon_ had ignited and instantly grew hot enough to burn through the chain. It snapped. June naturally dodged to the other end of the ring. She kept her cool about her weapon breaking, but one last taunt had done the trick. "You should've never come back. You're parents wouldn't want to see your disgraceful self." June, like her chain, had snapped for the first time in years. She did something that showed that she wasn't the same. She started to laugh and laugh and laugh. The crowd was silent, even December had to hold in some fear by June's sudden mood change. June had instantly moved in on December. She was blitzed and too slow to react. She was sent flying across the ring, but was able to catch herself with her sword. She recovered quickly and saw that June was walking towards her. She needed to keep her range, as June had just shown that she was far faster than she was before. _Resurgens Daemon_ had an ability to fire high caliber dust rounds, but when the first shot had appeared to connect, it only phased through June. She now understood how to get rid of her barriers, and had created several afterimages. Now December wasn't sure if she could win. Every afterimage she shot had only went through. June then revealed a function that she hadn't used with _Angeli Cadunt_ since she was first training herself on how to use it. The 2 handles had ejected the excess chain, and deployed a beam of white light from both handles. _Angeli Cadunt_ was able to produce a saber with light dust crystals. June appeared before December again and instantly disarmed her of _Resurgens Daemon_. She then released an attack that involved hundreds of slashes against Decembers aura. Right before the finish, however, June stopped. December showed pure shock and confusion, but the ring had started to lower and June was heading out. The announcers, who almost forgot to announce what had happened, had stated that June's semblance overuse had caused her aura to drop below the required 15% and above to stay in. December had won. The crowd was indifferent, not knowing what just happened, but they eventually started to cheer and boo equally. December didn't care if she won or not, as she was just frozen still.

The rest of the festival June kept to herself. Amica had felt personally responsible about the chain not being strong enough, so he said that he would repair it before she left, telling her an idea he had. Although Summer tried to comfort June, it would be some time before June felt perfectly OK again. The tournament had ended, also marking the end of the festival. The results were in, with Summer winning for Vale, December winning for Vacuo, and two Atlas students winning the last two matches. Everyone was rewarded with a medal based on which place they were in. June was able to get herself to talk to Amica and March before she left for Vale. To help her mood, March was very proud to tell her that she had gotten into Shade. June was happy for her, and said that she would make an amazing Huntress. Amica had also handed her a fixed _Angeli Cadunt_, sending her a message on her scroll that included new schematics. Amica would miss June, but he understood if she never came back to Vacuo. When JULI had packed up and started to head for the departing area with STRQ, December had stopped them. Just like before she got close to June, but she just put her closed fist in June's hand and walked off. She gave her something. It was a note and the medal that December had received for winning their final match. The note had only said, "You deserve it." June felt better the rest of the way back to Vale, seeing what was new about Angeli Cadunt. The chain, which seemed to be more of a rod now, appeared to be locked in place when idle, but when activated it would separate into smaller cylinders that were refined magnetic dust crystals. This meant that, if the cylinders were ever separated, it could come back together on command. She showed Summer the improved weapon and she thought it was really cool, adding that it made her weapon even more unique. With that, June had felt better on her way back to Vale...


	13. Uruclay, the Tactician (Beacon Pt 7)

JULI and STRQ would be sent to compete again in the 31st Vytal Festival Tournament in their third year. Half of JULI, which included in June and Uruclay, would find themselves wanting to go to Atlas more than they wanted to go to Vacuo. Uruclay's reason, however, was that he was more interested in the Atlesian air forces than he was anything else. Uruclay was highly interested in ships, air and navy. In battle strategy classes, he excelled in the navigation of ships and war strategies. His own teachers would tell you that he was more comfortable with ships than he was people, which would make anyone think he was from Atlas instead of Vale. Another way he showed his skills was by taking part in weekend tournaments of _Remnant: The Game_. When he could pick the Atlas side, he was near unbeatable using the kingdoms military. These tournaments and his grades had gotten the attention of an Atlas Specialist, Album Nix, and she planned to contact him when he would attend the Vytal Festival Tournament.

JULI would've had the same procedure heading to Atlas as they did Vacuo, but Album had requested that the team be flown in sooner than usual to meet with Uruclay. JULI was only told that someone had wanted them to see Atlas sooner, so they were being brought to Atlas early. Summer was disappointed that she wouldn't be there for June's birthday, but she was able to get over it for the time being. The whole team was excited about being in Atlas, with Ino having a little excitement about getting something STRQ didn't. The city was truly unique, most notably was the fact that Atlas itself was a floating island powered by dust. Uruclay had immediately wanted to see about visiting the Atlesian airfield, but after an hour of settling in to their new dorm, Uruclay had been told a Specialist had wanted him in their office. His scroll was provided the location and he was told to be there ASAP. The rest of JULI didn't question it, the only one being Levi who asked where he had to go. He told him and he let him off. After about a half-a-mile walk, Uruclay had reached Album's office. She would've usually been more angry with her subordinates not listening to the "ASAP" part of her message, but Uruclay wasn't a subordinate. He did, however, stand attention in her presence and showed the same attention and respect as though he was a subordinate. "No need for the formalities," Album had started, "take a seat." Uruclay listened, and had taken a seat opposite of her. "To clear up any questions about your early arrival," she continued, "I was the one who requested that you would come here. I am well aware of Team JULI's skill in combat, and it is impressive. However, you were the tipping point for my decesion to get JULI here early." Uruclay could hide his emotions easily, Levi commenting that his poker face was used in more things than just poker, but he was curious by what she meant. "I'm sorry, but could you clarify what that means," Uruclay had asked. She answered, "What I'm saying, is that your grades in naval and air navigation had gotten my attention, and now it has gotten the attention of the General." Even Uruclay had slight examples of surprise on his face. He never thought that he be noticed by the Atlesian Military, it was partly the reason he became a Huntsmen instead. Album noticed his shock and curiosity, and went on, "In that light, we're willing to provide a position in the Atlas military to allow your strategy skills to grow. This will require more discussion, but for now I'll let you settle in and we'll resume this in two days. You're dismissed." Uruclay had stood up, saluted and walked back to the dorm. He was very happy about this, but he tried not to think about it too much, so it wouldn't be distracting for the next couple of days.

The next day, JULI decided to head into the main city to see what Atlas was like. Although they were there only a half week sooner than contesting teams would be arriving, there were still some parts of the festival being prepared because they were meant for the tournament. Uruclay wanted to visit the airfields and see if any tours were being provided for ships. Levi would usually be the one to go with him, but he didn't like forcing Levi to do this sort of stuff. Levi wasn't too interested in the weapon or technological part of his job, reasoning that if something got the job done, it was good enough. Surprisingly, June had agreed to go with him. It wasn't a secret between them that they were the two who cared more for weapons, but they also weren't a common pair even on the same team. June was interested in the ships, though, as she found interest in the Atlas tech for being very advanced. It turns out that tours were provided for older ships that were put out of commission. The tour was basic, and although Uruclay found it interesting, he still had some disappointment that he couldn't look at the more advanced airships that were being used in the current fleet. June had kept to herself what she thought of the tour. As much as the two had some shared interests, she almost never expressed her own feelings to anyone. The only person that he could guess she opened up to is Summer, but that was still a guess on his part. The pair met up with Levi and Ino, who expressed they had a great time visiting an amusement park set up for the festival. JULI would spend the rest of the day exploring Atlas, finishing the day by finding a place to eat. After that, they went back to the dorms to rest.

The next day had come, but Uruclay had already needed to discuss with Album. He told the rest of JULI that this would happen the day Album told him, so they weren't worrying where he would be. Levi and Ino expressed that they thought a day of meetings and discussing would be boring, but June only nodded and patted him on the back for getting new opportunities. Although he told none of them that he was partly the reason from being there early, he always felt that June knew everything. He started to head to Album's office when he got the report, and this time he walked a little faster knowing what it was for. He found that June left the same time he did and ran into her before he got to Album's office. He asked where June was going, curious by the small amount of luggage she had. She told him she was going to Mantle to see the kingdoms old capital, adding that she be back the day STRQ would arrive in Atlas. He said stay safe, and went on to meet with Album. It didn't take the full day, but they negotiated a deal. Album had told him that he could join the military when he wanted, but that if it was before he graduated they would need to bring it up with current headmasters. Uruclay decided that he would finish his studies at Beacon first before joining. Album expressed some disappointment, but still needed to check something. She had arranged a battle simulation between Uruclay and an Atlas student. This student, however, had shown the most skill out of his class in airship and naval strategies. The student would also have the upper hand at the beginning of the simulation. Album, escorted by two androids, brought Uruclay to the simulation arena. He met with the student and they both shook hands before the simulation start. Album explained the situation and conditions that would take place, "The battle will be between two equal fleets fighting above the northern ocean of Anima, with a rock spire formation in the ocean providing the only cover. Uruclay, you will be facing Drake Lex. The two of you have equal grades and show similar capabilities on air and naval strategies. However, Drake will have a home field advantage, to say. The airships being used are new, experimental ships not yet to be used in the Atlasian air fleet, and Drake has been giving proper training on how they work. Uruclay, the General has high expectations of you and hopes that you'll be able to adapt fast enough to take on Drake. For the win conditions, each side will have a flagship. If this ship is taken down, be it an enemy or Grimm attack, the commander will be eliminated and lose. Now head to your stations!"

Uruclay was always confident in his abilities, but he was truly worried about this engagement. This would be equally as important to him as getting into Beacon with a similar entrance exam, if the entrance exam had let teachers fight against the students and could hide the artifacts. The point being was that he was at a disadvantage. Drake and Uruclay had been sat opposite of each other, but they were separated by a wall to prevent cheating. Each side had a holographic board. Although he didn't have the knowledge Drake did about his fleet, the two had 8 minutes to figure out beginning strategies and, for Uruclay, to see if he could learn anything about his ships before the start of the simulation. Drake, however, was very confident in his abilities. Although he wasn't usually cocky, the fact that his opponent had no idea what his ships could do had made him cocky. The battle was started and Drake had began by putting his flagship and its escorts into formation. The flagship would stay behind the main offensive force slowly following them. The reason that he didn't keep the flagship deep behind defense was that it possessed a very powerful anti-capital ship weapon. It was a dust powered laser that was capable of slicing entire fleets in half. A single use of the laser, however, would put the flagship out of commission for a time, so it was to be used as a last resort or if it was guaranteed to wipe out a fleet. There was a dedicated radar ship apart of the fleet as well, that would provide a location update of the enemy fleet every 30 seconds. When Drake had his first look at Uruclay's formation, he was surprised to see that it was very sporadic and unorganized. He was disappointed. He had heard that Uruclay was a brilliant tactician, so he started to look down on him for his organization or lack thereof. It would take another minute-and-a-half until the two fleets would meet head-to-head. This seemed to be the case until the next radar update, which showed that Uruclay was slowly retreating. Drake was still cautious, though, and had his faster ships take point to also act as scouts. It would now be two-and-a-half-minutes until the two fleets would engage. The next radar pulse would reveal something unique. There was a signal that identified as one of Uruclay's ships hovering very close to the water. It was a fast ship that would engage Drake's fleet very soon, and Drake assumed that it was supposed to be a scout. He started to think Uruclay more of a fool to think that simply going lower was going to mask him from radar. Instead of immediately getting rid of it when it was within range, he decided that he would let it be unless it tried something or got within range to see. He did this to trick Uruclay into thinking that lower altitude did mask the radar. Drake had thought highly of Atlas technology, commenting that the new, improved radars were capable of detecting aura, which made it possible to determine the difference between Grimm and airships. With that, there was a group of Grimm staying near Drakes fleet. He planned only to engage if the flock of Grimm attacked, but he wasn't able to tell what the Grimm were exactly until they got within sight. With the next radar pulse, his trick had worked. Uruclay had lowered his fleets altitude to hide himself and was slowing down. To go with it, Drake had slowed down his fleet to make him think that he had lost him. In the next 40 seconds, the two fleets would engage. The next radar pulse would be the last. When it happened, Drake had taken out the scout that Uruclay sent under him. Then, 40 seconds had gone by. As soon as Drake was in sight of Uruclay's fleet, he began to charge the flagships laser to quickly end the fight. However, the laser wouldn't charge because something had hit him from behind. The "Grimm" that were behind him had turned out to smaller airships that had all human occupants taken out, and they were armed with single-use, anti ship missiles. They weren't able to take out the flagship, but they disabled the ships laser and its ability to move fast. Drake was too distracted and figured out last second that Uruclay's flagship had charged its main weapon. The ship had fired and took out half of his fleet. Drake, still in shock that he knew how to use the ships laser, responded by sending the rest of his offensive force after Uruclay, but it was a sloppy counterattack and Uruclay had expected the rash planning. They flew too close to the rock formation, and Uruclay revealed his other trap. He planted mines that would start a rock slide on the formation when they blew, and he pulled the trigger. The debris had taken most of the airships out, with the little remaining being easy pickings for Uruclay's fleet. Then, Uruclay had sent his counterattack and had swiftly taken out all ships that were defending Drakes flagship. Defeat was imminent, and the results were clear. Out of the 7 escorts, flagship, and smaller airships that made up the fleets, Uruclay had only lost one escort and less than a handful of small airships. Drake, however, had lost everything.

After that simulation, Album saw Uruclay's ability. She was very impressed, and his plan perfect. Although Drake thought that Uruclay wouldn't be able to learn much in the 8 minute prep, Uruclay learned everything he could about the radar ship. He found out how it was able to distinct between Grimm and airships. He thought that automated airships would be too obvious, but he decided that sending a few ships would work. Then, he spent the beginning 30 seconds of the match researching his escorts. After seeing the first pulse, he found that Drakes flagship was staying close to his offensive force. This got him thinking, and he soon realized the flagship had an offensive function. He organized his fleet to resemble Drakes, but started his plan to attack him from behind. His use of the lower altitude scout was to get a view on Drake's fleet, thinking that he would let the scout get close to try and fool him. He was right, and one thing had led to another and he had won. Album had seen his skill, and she and Uruclay agreed on something that benefited both of them in the long run. Uruclay would still attend Beacon and complete this studies there, but, after he graduates, he will move to Atlas to begin basic military and strategy training that would allow him to become a commander. Album had no doubts that he would pass the training, reasoning that he didn't need it, but he needed to do this if he wasn't going to transfer to Atlas Academy. Uruclay was happy the rest of the festival, excited that he had a plan for the future. Ironically, he was very lazy when it came to planning for his own future, which made Levi and his parents very confused and surprised when he would tell them what would happen...


	14. Mantle, A Lost Capital (Beacon Pt 8)

June was curious about Atlas officials wanting to talk to Uruclay, but she knew his love for their technology and thought asking would be intrusive. In the meantime, she was focusing on getting to Mantle. She wanted to see the city, but it seemed that Mantle's reputation was plummeting since the capital was moved to Atlas. She still, however, wanted to see the city for what it was. She bumped into Uruclay before she left, and told him that she would be back the day STRQ arrived. She would then head to the public airfield to depart for Mantle, but she would find a little trouble finding a way there. It seemed almost all airships had been departing from Mantle to Atlas, so the only flights back were airships planning to bring people to Atlas and they weren't prepared for passengers. She was able to negotiate a way to hitch a ride on the way back to Mantle, telling the pilot that she didn't need any accommodations. The trip would take a day, so June had to find something to do on her way there. She decided that she would read up more on Mantle, which included asking the pilot about the city. It seemed he was biased, saying that the city was getting worse and that it had poor living conditions. Something else she learned was that, since the moving of capitals, there was a majority of Faunus that lived in the city. Having been raised in Vacuo and having parents who didn't care who you were, she had no reason to hate Faunus. She did know that Faunus were treated very poorly in Atlas and Mistral, though, and it, in fact, was part of the reason she wanted to go to Mantle. She wanted to see conditions that Faunus were in in other kingdoms to see how bad it was.

The airship had landed, and June found the environment to be hostile quickly. Even with the harsh winter, when she got off she saw that were many people wanting to get on. For being told that the majority was Faunus, she found the most of the people leaving were humans. She started to look for the nearest Inn or place to stay for the time. She wasn't used to the cold, but she got over it quickly. She then found an Inn, which was also a bar, down the road. It was a decent place, better than some places in Vacuo, but looked old when compared to places in Atlas. She also realized the only people there were Faunus, and considering the way they looked at her when she walked in, they knew she wasn't someone who lived there. June went to the bartender to ask for a room. When she asked for a room and took off her scarf, the bartender looked confused for a bit. He was a large, older Faunus who had a lizard tail and some scaly parts on his face. "Are you a Faunus," was what the first thing he asked. "No," June had intentionally said it in a confusing tone. He then told her there was a better Inn farther down. "Why would you be encouraging me to go somewhere else," June added. "Hm, you're not from around here, are you," he went on. "No, I'm visiting Ma-," she started, but was cut off by him, "I mean, you're not from Atlas, are you." She told him she was there for the Vytal Festival, and he understood. "Where're you from," he was starting a conversation. She told him that she was apart of one of the teams competing for Beacon, and he showed that he wasn't very surprised that she was from Vale. He told her how things had worked in Mantle, confirming that the city wasn't as developed as Atlas was. He then added that the few humans that lived there weren't very happy about living there, as more moved to Atlas every year. She found herself learning a lot from the barkeep, who was named Ruthor. She felt truly bad about what was happening there, between the Faunus miners who would be lost in the mines, and their basic mistreatment from the people they worked for or lived with. She was very open with questions, asking why it seemed that the people there didn't show any distaste for her. Ruthor had been clear, telling her that it was because if they acted out of line, they would usually be ridiculed and might be taken out of a job depending on the person. It seemed that most Faunus' there were scared of humans. She didn't blame them, with the way things were in the city.

Her stay wasn't very long, but she did learn a lot from it. She now saw the hardships Faunus were going through firsthand, but she hadn't seen Mistral yet, which was supposed to be almost the same. She also gained a small reputation there, as it was uncommon for a human in Mantle to show respect to Faunus there. An example being her going to the local market. The day after she got there, she found a market area that was full of people. There were more expensive areas and shops, but June was visiting the entire market. She found that she was stopped more near those areas, though, because they weren't Faunus run and therefor weren't scared by approaching her. However, a Faunus child had walked up to her asking to look at what her parents were selling. Her mother, however, had gotten her and told her not to bother June. "No, I would like to look," June had told the mother. She let her look, but she still looked worried and wasn't talking to June. "No worries, I'm just visiting from Vale and was looking around," June said this to get rid of her worry. "Oh, well I hope you've enjoyed your stay," she had said in almost a completely different tone than before. June, though not being into flowers, had bought some because she wanted to help them. She had another plan as well, getting a white rose for Summer. The rest of her time in the market would resemble that encounter, Faunus being scared of her at first, but then she would make them feel better after she explained where she was from. She left the next day, finding it was more cramped on the way to Atlas. When she got back, STRQ had already settled in, but Summer was waiting to see her. She acted like she hadn't seen June in years, and they started to head back to the academy dorms. June had remembered the rose she got, and she reached for it from her bag to give to Summer. She was shocked by the gesture, but made it obvious that she loved it. They spent the rest of the night together, until they both went to sleep in each teams dorms.


	15. Ino's Boiling Point (Beacon Pt 9)

**Authors Note:** Real quick, I updated some chapters that had interactions between June and Summer. I realized I didn't put much into their relationship, or things that would make them similar that would lead to a relationship. The changes include minor ones in chapters 7 and 10, so you don't _need_ to go back and read them, but bigger changes for chapter 9 that I would recommend rereading if you have nothing else to do. I also changed some things with chapter 12, but it's only in the final paragraph and means rereading the whole thing isn't needed. To add, I made these changes a little over a week ago, so if you got into this story in that time, you read the new version. Lastly, with this chapter as evidence, I will be taking a lot longer to write chapters because school is starting and etc, I'm pretty sure most people get it. With that done, here's chapter 15!

Ino was interested in June's trip to Mantle, but all June had said was that it wasn't very glamorous. She went with that, already knowing that Mantle had a bad reputation. The next week had been relaxed, all except for one day. June was a little harder on Ino in the one-on-one training she was giving for each member of JULI. She didn't like it, but knew that June was only trying to make her better. However, she didn't know June's true intention, but she would soon. The week had gone by, and the tournament was on. The first day had no fights including JULI, or STRQ, and JULI would end up fighting on the final day. They were bummed having to wait so long, but they would be the first fight of the day. They would be fighting an Atlas Team. They lined up accordingly, but it seemed that Ino was worried. It wasn't, however, who they were fighting that they were concerned about. June had seemed a little... odd recently. Her training sessions that she gave her seemed more focused on provoking her, in the best way June could show. After every showing of success, June wouldn't give her usual smile and tips on how to improve, and would instead give a disappointed look along with a perfect counter to whatever Ino did. If her intention was to make Ino mad, it had worked, and Ino had a burst and attacked randomly. Ino stopped herself and kept her anger in, embarrassed for a second, but in that short second she could see June's face, it was shock and something else that she couldn't make out in such short time. Ino said sorry about the outburst and June had went up to her and surprised her. June had slapped her in the face. Ino was in shock for a couple of minutes, in that time there was only silence. June broke it by saying that she was done with training for the day, adding that same disappointed tone in her voice.

With that training session and other examples that seemed to only be happening to Ino, she was more worried than her members about June's condition, another reason was that she tried to look after her teammates more than she should have, with not being the team leader. The two arenas that were selected were the Geyser Fields and a beach with a crashed wooden ship. JULI looked at their scrolls, and realized that June had sent them her plan and had taken point in front of them. It was risky, the plan being that the team, except for June, would run for cover on the beach with the ship. The problem was that it was a good distance from the starting point, but that's where June's plan got interesting. In order to shield the team from the inevitable hail fire that the enemy team would fire, June planned to take out one of them after she used her semblance and aura to reflect the fire back. They all knew that she would be eliminated, so they would have to rely on themselves for planning after the first minute. After they all read through, the timer hit zero and the plan had taken in effect. The Atlas Team, once they saw that JULI was heading for the ship, had started to assault them. They would've advanced forward but June had anchored where she was, and was shown to be standing still. The team, however, could tell that their rounds weren't hitting home, and that's when their leader had realized what was happening. Every time the team fired, even not at June, there would be a blur surrounding June and faint afterimages of her where they fired at. When the rest of JULI was behind the ship, June charged the teams major supporting role, and before the other members could realize that she was there, she had knocked the Hunter out of the arena. Before the rest of them could target her, though, she collapsed and her aura flashed and showed cracking around her. The announcers had revealed that June had used up the most of her aura covering her team and that the last use of her semblance to eliminate that Huntsmen had used up the last of it, but June knew that she was going to be eliminated. The student that she had taken out had an automatic weapon that took the most effort to reflect, and she knew that he would be a problem for JULI later and focused on him because of that. The crowd had gotten riled up at this, at first impressed by June's ability to take out ammunition mid-air and then shocked by June's sudden elimination. Most people had seen her in the previous tournament, and very much weren't expecting her to be taken out in the first round. The rest of JULI used the extra time to come up with a plan. Uruclay had a naturally large amount of aura, so he and Levi would stay together with Uruclay taking point. Ino would stay near them but would be mostly on her own, and she would be locked in a one-on-one with the teams leader. His weapon was high-powered sniper that could be sheathed, to say, with the corresponding energy shield to become a sword. The shield part had a metal strip that the sniper barrel went in to, and that part also projected the shield when not being used as the sword. The other two members of the Atlas Team had gone to take out Levi and Uruclay, and it was bad luck that Ino was pitted against the leader. His long range style had countered Ino, with her _Muerte Gris_ being focused on close to mid-range fighting. He fell back to the Geyser Fields for cover, so Ino had to push up going from cover to cover to avoid shots. She would occasionally be hit, which was devastating to Ino's aura because the weapon was already powerful, as well as her aura wasn't as tough as Uruclay's or June's. After she made it to the fields, she had been hit twice and her aura was brought down to almost half. When she got close to him, it was her turn to get her shots on the leader. Ino was able to brute force past his shield because of her close proximity and her usage of explosive, shotgun type rounds she was using, and then she hit him a couple times before he was able to get behind cover. She was able to surprise him, though, by firing rounds on the other side of the geyser he was behind. He was confused why she would fire randomly, but when he came out to show he had changed fighting styles, he ran into her trap. The rounds that she had fired were supposed to confuse him, as the were shot into the ground and implanted to become mines. He stepped on them and they had brought down his aura exponentially while also sending him flying back some distance away. She had gotten into a position beforehand to catch him mid-air, and her jabs with _Muerte Gris_ after his fall had eliminated him. Levi and Uruclay had taken out the opposing duo right before Ino could take out their leader. Although, it seemed the duo would've been a problem at first. They were suppressing Levi and Uruclay, preventing them from getting too close. However, one had been too close to a geyser and took a hit when one erupted. Uruclay took the small time they were confused to charge them, and, before they could fully recover, Levi had fired a charged shot at the support who was hit by the geyser which depleted their aura and eliminated them. Uruclay was able to take out the other in CQC after some fighting. The team was eliminated and JULI had won.

The duos would have a surprising twist. When it came to picking their duo members, JULI decided that taking votes were the best idea, as most teams did. When it came to June, it seemed obvious that she was going to compete, but that's where things would change. If the member they voted to go didn't want to, they didn't have to, and June had decided that she wasn't competing in the duos. Instead, she recommended Ino and Levi. The team was a little surprised, but went with her decision. Ino kept thoughts like this to herself, but she liked that she was able to compete without being overshadowed. Besides, for now it seemed that June was the only one that didn't want to compete, as the rest of JULI enjoyed the fights. The other thing that came as a surprise to Ino, though, is the amount of people that asked them about the decision, seeming curious why they didn't pick June to continue. It irritated her but she ignored it for the time, as it was only people that didn't know who she was. Levi and Ino's match would not be until the second day. June's cold attitude towards Ino didn't stop, but she seemed more relax. It was probably because June didn't have to worry about competing, and she would find herself in the library or talking to Summer in the time up to the fight. Although she didn't care to watch much of the other fights, finding them a little boring, she would watch JULI's fights as well as STRQ's to support them.

Ino and Levi's match was the third one on the second day. They were pit against a Haven Duo, and then they lined up for the fight on opposite sides of the starting area. The environments were chosen, and they would be fighting in the Forest, Ice Fields, Stormy Mountains and the Desert. After they were revealed, the timer started to countdown to their fight, and Levi and Ino were giving ideas for plans with their scrolls in the meantime. It seemed that unlike JULI's other matches, this one would have to be a direct confrontation with one-on-one fights between them. This was because the Haven duo had intercepted their plan and forced them to fight head on against them. Ino ended up fighting the one named Rufus, who seemed to have a heavy weapon style. He had a large bola attached by a chain to a large handle. In the first 20 seconds of the fight, Ino could tell that he focused on heavy hitting instead of speed, as she was able to dodge him with relative ease. She would put more shots into his aura every time she sidestepped an attack. However, she was hit once by the ball and her aura was brought down exponentially, which means that she could only take two more hits before her aura would be brought down below 15 percent. The fight had been brought into the Forrest, and Rufus was cutting down trees in order to find Ino. She would leave traps for him, whittling down his aura slowly. It seemed that his aura was very strong, but he was still playing as cautious as he could while still being aggressive. When it seemed there was no where left to hide for Ino, she went back to where they were fighting before, which was in the Ice Fields. A direct fight with him would put her at a disadvantage, and he knew this, but to his surprise she stayed and fight. With no cover, she couldn't hide any mines, or pull any tricks the same way she did before. The fight had become the sidestepping and dodging that mirrored the first part of their fight. However, Rufus would show what else he could do. When she just barely dodged a hit by the ball, the spikes had went into the weapon and then ejected out. Ino was caught off guard and her aura had taken a lot of damage, although not as bad as when she was hit the first time by the full weapon. She was knocked back, and Rufus started to get close to see about eliminating her. Ino could see that Levi was still in a fight with the other team member, so she had to make sure that she wasn't eliminated. Thankfully, it seemed that he walked right into her trap. Her semblance, as it turns out, made it seem like she had a small aura reserve, but the passive part of her semblance would deplete her aura twice as much for the damage she took. Every time her aura was depleted, though, her aura would "shed" and leave a minefield. Since it was aura as well, it was completely invisible to the human eye, and it could also lure Grimm away from things. When she first discovered it, she could only cause explosions at her command, but with training she could change what happened when it was activated. Rufus had stepped on this part, and she had caused an explosion where he stood. She exploded the exact amount that she would need to eliminate him. Before she could go help Levi, though, the smoke had cleared and Rufus had looked fine. Now his semblance was revealed. His heavy nature not only came from his strong aura, but by the fact that he could, in exchange for aura, harden it to the point where it was basically impenetrable. He was expecting something, so he was keeping his guard up the whole time. The explosion had still taken a part of his aura, and with him using his semblance, a large portion of his aura was gone. Ino had put everything in that, so she didn't know what she was going to do. She started to run towards the desert area, and Rufus had done something to prevent that. The ejected spikes that he had shot out could explode on command and Ino didn't notice that she ran past one. It detonated and knocked her down, taking only a little bit of aura because she was too far for it to be devastating. The damage was also too small to use her semblance effectively, as the power of the mines were proportional to how much damage she took. Rufus had started to approach her, keeping his distance to stay safe. Right before he could get too close, though, he lost his balance and started to float. When he looked up at Ino, she had took aim and shot him dead on. He used the last of his aura to shield against the shot, but he was knocked down to the floor and Ino had exploded the area around him. Without enough aura to protect himself with his semblance, he was eliminated by his aura going below 15 percent. He realized what had happened after it. The reason he started to float was because he walked into the area he hit her the first time in the fight. It had been there the whole time, so she used it to flip the gravity and then shot him into the other field she left to eliminate him. Knowing what his semblance was beforehand, she only used half of the field in the past explosion she did in order to use the other half just in case. She had planned all of it. She went to assist Levi, who was pinned in a long range battle with the other member. With her help, he was able to push up and take out the enemy a couple minutes later. The fight was over, and JULI would choose one of them to move on to the next round.

The day break before the final round was the opposite of a break for Ino, being much more hectic than last year. It was mostly because the team had picked her over Levi. She didn't realize how stressful the position would be. She would've sympathized with June about being a final contestant because of how stressful it was, but she continued to act rude and became part of the reason for her stress. Ino also didn't like getting advice from June, feeling that it would just make her own win seem not as good. However, she did know that she needed it, and that was another reason she didn't like it. She kept that thinking to herself, though, reasoning that it wouldn't help to think about it or talk about it. June would force her into a training session, and although she didn't want it, she agreed to it anyway. Same as before June was especially harsh, but not as bad as last time, no slapping out of the blue. Ino would end up fighting the first day, and she was very nervous before the battle. All of JULI would support her; however, it seemed that June wasn't there before she went into the ring.

She lined up on the ring against an Atlas student. Her name was Sakura Hitto, and she seemed in both parts similar and opposite of Ino. She had blonde hair and was very open and jumpy. Her outfit seemed odd, though, as she wore a long sleeved sweatshirt but then wore shorts that were similar to Ino's. She also wore a backpack that seemed electronic and metal, and it made the outfit even more sporadic. Unfortunately, she didn't do any research on the final contestants because she was too nervous, and it seemed that June wasn't trying to help her anymore. It was her fault and she didn't mind June not being able to take any credit for her win. She put it aside, needing to figure out who she was fighting, and it seemed that she was very social. She was trying to talk to Ino, and she would've liked the gesture if they weren't going to be fighting soon. Another reason was that she seemed to be able to read people, and she was very open about it. She pointed out that Ino seemed awfully nervous, and Ino just tried to ignore her for the time being. The countdown had started and they both got ready. It reached zero and Sakura had started to run towards her, Ino preparing to see what she could do. Ino seemed confused at first, as Sakura was only using basic CQC. She was skilled at it, though, showing that she knew some form of fighting. Ino, not being skilled in any fighting styles, didn't know what it could be or if she was even right. The fight was full of close range slashes from Ino that hit Sakura more often than she thought they would. It seemed that she wasn't very fast, but she would still get hits on Ino every once in awhile. She was slow, but it seemed that she was getting more hits on Ino the more the fight went on. Ino decided that retreating before she could hit her and attacking her at range would be better for herself. She started to run around the ring, getting close to the edge, but keeping her distance from it. Instead of getting closer and chasing her, though, Sakura had started to bring up her arm while she tried to dodge shots from Ino. There seemed to be a scroll, or some other device on her wrist. When she was done, she had started to fire back from her arms. It appeared that she had guns of some sort hidden under her sleeves, and she was firing back. The shots had hit hard, but Ino started to dodge them to prevent losing more aura. Although she seemed dumb, Ino knew that Sakura had to have been picked for a reason by her team. For a second, she thought of the circumstances that that got her there, but she ignored it as she would get too unfocused. Ino decided to catch her off guard with her semblance, the same thing she did with Rufus. However, she knew that it would be predictable, as Atlas students were known to take their fights very seriously and do their research beforehand. She knew that she would have to catch her off guard unless she randomly got a new ability, which seemed highly unlikely. Ino changed tactics and got closer to Sakura, and the two met with each other and started another bout of close up fighting. Sakura found her sudden fighting change suspicious and suspected there was a tactical reason for doing it, instead of it being a way to impress the crowd. As the fight went on, Ino found that she was being pushed more and more, as Sakura now used a shotgun infused fighting style that made her punches hit harder, so she would have to do something soon. Luckily for her, it worked out in her favor, as the fight had moved on to an area where she was damaged before. All of sudden, Sakura lost her balance and started to float. Sakura was waiting for the moment she showed her semblance and had decided to show her weapon, the _Durate Verdadate's, _true form. Her backpack had fully undone and created an exo-suit around her. The mechanism activated, along with anti-gravity dust crystals to bring her back on her feet. The crystals had another purpose too, as they were used to increase her speed and get rid of the weight added on by the exo-suit which, as well as some of her own weight. Though the suit was heavy, it was designed as a series of braces attached to the back of her arms and legs and was also put on her spine. Something else that went with her weapon, or suit, was that she had electronic contacts that would provide an increase reaction time that allowed her to go at such fast speeds. This was the _Durate Verdadate's_ full capabilities. Ino started to fire at Sakura before the suit fully deployed, but she was able to dodge them, or use her aura to prevent damage to the suit. When it was done, her speed was comparable to a base June, of which Ino hadn't been able to outrun yet. Ino wouldn't be able to dodge the next hit, and because of her semblance and Sakura's now increased strength, it would be devastating. This development made her start to think about how she got there. She didn't suppress the thoughts this time, with being voted in and not doing research on her opponents, but still thinking June would help her. Sakura had rushed for Ino, her speed would make the first hit happen in seconds, and Ino didn't know what to do. She couldn't contain her emotions anymore, and the burst had proven to be useful, contrary to what she thought. In the split second before Sakura would hit her, Ino had instinctively dodged to the left. Sakura was put into shock for a second, which Ino took advantage of and released a hail fire of dust at her backpack. Sakura pulled back and was left with a malfunctioning suit, but she was still able to move. Ino had destroyed the systems that controlled the arms, so she called them back. Before she could start to rush Ino again, however, she found that she couldn't move. The problem was that she had stepped into one of Ino's fields, which had frozen her legs. The ice was strong enough to hold her in place even with her suits strengths enhancements. For once, Ino understood how to use her emotions to her benefit, and the sudden burst had advanced her semblance and allowed her to form ice from the mine fields. Her increased speed had let her fire the _Muerte Gris_ far faster than she could before, being almost as fast as a fully automatic pistol. The gunfire was a mix of fire, explosive and electric dust rounds, with the electric rounds damaging Sakura's suit. Being immobilized, Sakura could only dodge some of the rounds, and her aura was brought very close to the 15 percent mark after half-a-minute of firing. When it seemed that Ino was out of ammo, Sakura tried again to escape the ice. The ice had loosened, and she was about to get out, but Ino had other plans. Another new ability she discovered was that she could change the form her shredded aura could take, unless it was already blown up. The ice had had become loose because Ino had made it into a bomb. Before Sakura could get a leg out, Ino detonated the ice, and the blast had brought her aura down past the mark, while also knocking her out of bounds. Her emotions were still jumbled, but she was still very excited about winning her match with her own wits.

She was still equally parts mad and happy about the win. With June's behavior and her general attitude towards Ino in the past week, she was surprised to see that the first person who greeted her was June. When she was getting closer, she decided that she shouldn't hide her feelings anymore and would tell her how she felt. However, before she could start talking, June took her in a big hug and started to talk very excitedly. "That was awesome," was the first thing June had said, and following that she started to talk about the skill one needed to have to counter something that countered them and that her new abilities were very good. Ino was awfully confused and pushed June away for a second. June realized what that meant, and put herself together and started to explain. June was acting very strict to Ino because she needed to see her get emotional, knowing how powerful an outburst would be if she could use it. She then added her sudden speed boost in training had impressed her and confirmed that Ino needed to let loose to become more powerful. This explained what that other emotion was Ino saw her face in the split second, and June had also explained that her constant bottling of emotions had led to slow advancement of her skills, so she needed to eventually let them out to properly find what else she could do. Ino had burst out, angry that she intentionally acted that rude. "I'm really sorry. I didn't want to do it, but I needed to see if it would work," June had said this sounding extremely guilty, but Ino didn't want it and went off. Ino had run into Sakura on her way to leave the stadium, and tried to avoid her. Sakura had ran up to her when she saw her, and wanted to talk. Ino thought it would be full of hate, but it was the opposite as she treated her with respect and it seemed as if she looked up to her. Ino asked about the way she was acting, and her response was simple. Sakura had found it as a friendly competition that let her meet new people, which was the point in the Vytal Festival anyway. Ino understood her and eased up about talking to her. Sakura had also added that she liked seeing other semblances in action and thought hers was cool. They talked for a bit and Sakura had asked about her mood while adding that she seemed down even though she just won her match. Ino didn't go in detail about it, but she told her that her team leader was treating her unfairly and acting weird. Sakura had said that was surprising, but added that she hadn't gotten to meet her to know. Before they could continue, though, June had come up to tell Ino that the airship was leaving. Ino only sighed and said goodbye to Sakura, but ignored June when she went off. June was going to wait a bit to give Ino space, and Sakura had seemed interested in talking to her. She asked her about Ino being mad at her, and June told her that she tried something that may have backfired when it came to their relationship. Sakura added that she understood it can be hard for a leaders teammates to realize what the intention was, but also added that, after some time, she should feel better. "Thanks," June responded, and Sakura had pulled her into a conversation. She seemed interested in June's semblance, finding that it was also interesting. The way she talked about it made it seem that she was obsessed with semblances, and June had asked her about her fondness for them. "Oh, I find them interesting because I haven't discovered mine yet," was her reasoning. June showed a little shock, realizing that she was lucky to find hers at such a young age. While not having one of her own yet had been a reason for her liking semblances, another was that she found them very unique and that advancing one actually took training insterad of improving technology like she's forced to do. June said that she must of been a positive woman in order to find the good in not finding hers yet, but had to leave before the airship back to Atlas had left. June said goodbye to Sakura, adding that she hoped she found out what it was one day. June joined JULI on the way down...


	16. Levi's Trump Card (Beacon Pt 10)

**Authors Note:** Real quick, I made a more condensed version of this story. Basically, I put whole sagas into single chapters to help people read it easier. If you don't mind waiting longer for chapters and prefer to read entire sections of June's life and her friends, then I recommend that you read that instead. So far the story is purely condensed and adds nothing else to the story, so there's no need to go through that one for more content. Other than that, here's chapter 16!

Levi had found himself to be the most social of Team JULI, but he was also known to be an excellent supporting player. He was excellent in that field, but he wasn't very good at resolving bigger social issues. He usually left that to Ino, as she was admittedly better at it, but this time she was one of the people involved. Thankfully, by the time they started their fourth year, it seemed that she felt better about it, figuring that June had been the one to advance her semblance. Ino still didn't know how she truly felt about it, but she saw that June was just trying to help her become a more skilled Huntress. Although things were fine now, the rest of the team thought the problem was never going to get fixed and that the team might fall apart. Thankfully, it didn't come to that, and they could continue their last year together.

In their first semester, JULI would be assigned to protect an outside village as they packed up to move into Vale. Because they were moving to Vale, Beacon was going to provide support to the moving village. The assignment would take almost a week and they would have to stay in tents for a place to stay. However, the places they would be staying would get less comfortable as the rest of Outlook would pack up. JULI was sent out in an airship and the trip there wouldn't take more than a day. During the mission briefing, the area was told to dangerous, and was one of the reasons for them moving. "If it's that dangerous, then why did they move there in the first place," Ino had asked Ozpin, who had been providing the briefing. "You see, it was only recently that Grimm activity had started to increase, as the village has been fine there for years. So far we don't know the reason for such an increase but these are reports from two months of monitoring, which confirm that they had also been hiring more Hunters," Ozpin had replied. He kept on, adding that they would be taking an airship back after preparations. Before any of them could ask, he told them that the ship picking them up would have another team to assist in bringing the people to Vale. This would be to let JULI rest and not be away from their studies for long. Before the briefing was ended, though, Levi had one more question. "Before we leave," Levi started, "how do we have scouting reports for a village that was outside Vale?" Ozpin had sighed and started to explain, "As sad as it is, we couldn't just send a Huntsman or team out the day they asked for help. In order for me to make it worth the manpower, I had to have confirmed reports showing that they needed help to the council." As bad as it seemed, the village was able to survive in the meantime, so JULI didn't complain and kept their opinions to themselves. With that, Ozpin had dismissed them and they departed to Outlook, the village in question.

After their day flight, the team had settled down in Outlook. The Huntsman Vale had assigned had left when they got there, letting them take over. It was a nice village, most of the people very respectful to JULI, with the mayor adding that he wished to show them around if they weren't moving. It seemed JULI would get a day off, as Grimm activity was low for the day. Levi found himself hanging out in the bar, but it was to bring Uruclay somewhere to socialize. Neither of them drank but Levi had wanted to meet new people, and he told Uruclay to come with him. Uruclay, surprisingly, had found someone to talk to. The bartender had retired from the Atlas military to relax somewhere else, and Uruclays interest had gotten the two to talk. Although the bartender had wanted to move to see a new place, he still had pride in his kingdom and loved to boast to Uruclay. In the meantime, Levi would look for someone else he could talk to. Surprisingly, however, he didn't find anyone to stay in conversation with, so he eventually stayed with Uruclay to hang out. Uruclay and the bartender had been talking awhile, revealing that he was supporting of the move as he wanted to see another kingdom for once. Eventually, Uruclay and Levi would leave to get some sleep, as they would need it for tomorrow.

They soon figured out why they were sent. In only the first full day they would be there, the Grimm activity was high and a lot of them attempt attacking Outlook. JULI had been spread out protecting the four sides of Outlook. Levi and Ino were guarding the longer fences while June and Uruclay covered the smaller of the four. This was done to maximize each others skills, as Levi and Ino were more focused on range then Uruclay and June. Levi, although being primarily a support, could hold his own. He was left to taking out Beowolves and the occasional Ursa at range, which seemed to be very deterring to the beasts who focused on close range slashes and pounces. There were times of silence, though, and Levi used the time to rest and restock on ammo. There was a point where it felt like Grimm hadn't come back in a while, so he was wondering if the rest of JULI were having the same thing happen, or if they were taking all the action. It was then that he was interrupted. The surprise party was a pack of Beowolves and an Ursa, and some of the wolves, including the Ursa, were more armored and advanced than the others. A group of six Beowolves attacked him first and all at once, but he was able to dispose of them relatively quickly while dodging their first rush. He was out of ammo because of it, though, which led to the other wolves attacking him in succession. They were the more armored, smarter ones, and they knew that he would have to reload eventually. Levi had to switch to his secondary cylinder in order to take out the second wave. This was also the cylinder that could hold larger rounds, which proved to be useful against the heavier wolves. However, they were still a challenge, with a couple getting a few good slashes on him that dropped his aura down to three quarters. After that, the only one left was the Ursa. Levi could tell it would be a challenge before fighting it, as it was almost pure white with armor. He would start by firing at it , seeing what it could take and what it would take to kill it, which proved to only annoy it when he was using his weaker rounds. Once he switched to the opposing cylinder, though, it started to show some response to his shots. After finding this out, he started to experiment to see what got to it the most. After testing and dodging when it got too close for comfort, he found that a few shots with some ice dust would immobilize it for some time. He started to load more ice dust when the Ursa started to rush him, and he was almost caught fully off guard. It shouldn't have been able to do this but it had a sudden speed boost, as if it knew what he was trying to do next. Levi realized his mistake, and that normal tactics may not work on it. Instead of ice he would have to use something else. The Ursa had found that he relied on range and started to get as close as it needed to in order to hit him. Levi was forced to dodge more often, but he was able to mix his reloading, dodging, and firing into one swift motion. Whenever it got a hit in, though, it would prove disastrous to his aura. After getting one of these hits in Levi's aura was brought down a quarter, which was worse than any other Grimm that had gotten to him that day. Levi began to steer the Ursa closer to the forest and away from Outlook. It seemed that the Ursa had followed him straight to it, and it was not as smart as it appeared. The forest was perfect for Levi as it would provide cover for him while the Ursa would be left to struggle getting past trees and other shrubby. Although it was very strong, it would take a lot on its part to break past some of the trees. While it would try to break past them, Levi could easily pelt it with dust to weaken it. After about ten minutes of this, he decided to use his ace. As the Ursa got stuck on another tree trying to get him, he charged up the _Rote Bedrohung_. After it was done, the Ursa had showed that it was never hit with something that powerful, but it wasn't enough to kill it. After he loaded another cylinder of his heavy ammo, it went down with another couple of shots. That was the last notable fight Levi had for the day and he would be off by nightfall. This was mostly because June decided that she would take the night shift, and everyone went with it. Levi wished that there was more of a night life, but with the moving it seemed that nobody bothered to go out at night, and if they were, they only there to pack up some more.

After the first day it seemed that it was getting better. There were less Grimm coming close to the town than before, so JULI got more breaks from the action. After scouting reports confirmed that Grimm activity was low enough, JULI was allowed to rest for the remaining part of the day. Levi and Uruclay found themselves hanging out with each other. The first thing that they did was get food, as they were both starving. Levi found a tent that was being used as a place to eat during the move. While they were there, they talked about Outlook and what each other thought of it. "It's a nice town and well defended, " Levi started, "but I don't think I could live somewhere that wasn't within one of the four kingdoms." Uruclay thought for a moment before he added more to the conversation, "Guess you're right but we should get used to it considering it's our job to help defend places like these." Levi added that he had a point, but followed up that he didn't have to wander, and also saying that he just preferred living in the city. "Besides," Levi started again, "you're a good example of a Huntsman who's doing something different, Mr. Atlas official." To someone who didn't know him, a remark like that came across as a little arrogant with the way he phrases it, but Uruclay knew that it was just a joke. In all truth, Levi was happy and a little proud that his friend had found something he wanted to do after he graduated from Beacon. As for him, he would do what most Hunters do once graduating and see what the future had in store for him. After getting lunch, they tried to find something else to do. However, there wasn't much and they found themselves playing games on their scrolls at their tent. When they got back, they found that June was by herself reading. They thought that she was still out, but after being back for a couple minutes she had left again. In the meantime, the two would hang out for the rest of the day. When night had fallen, Levi would try to get more sleep, as there was nothing better for him to do.

Although he wasn't used to it, getting extra sleep had been a good choice on his part. The reason was that the team was waken up early because of high Grimm activity in the morning. He was happy but that meant that June went from working the night shift to immediately working in the morning. Levi was shocked to see her unphased when she greeted them outside the wall. JULI would take the same positions that they usually took, Levi getting the longer wall. The Grimm activity was higher than usual for the morning, but it was also higher than if it was the middle of the day. It didn't seem that bad at first, with the only Grimm being Beowolves, albeit armored, but they were near never ending. Every time he would strike down a couple of them they would be replaced some time later. Their armored state only made the situation worse. In one case, he was struck after he tried reloading, as some of the wolves were keeping an eye on his movements. When he looked as though he was reloading, a pair of them had lunged towards him. They had struck him head on, knocking him back closer to the wall. The damage was substantial and it dropped his aura down to half. However, Levi used the knock back and time it gave to reload and quickly dispose of the Grimm. It wasn't the end of his struggles, though, as a group of Griffons had decided to go for him. He was thankful when he realized that they didn't have a Sphinx pack lead. Griffons weren't pushovers, though, as they immediately landed a hit on him. It didn't hurt him as much as the several quick slashes and headbutt that he just took, though. After being hit, he put a few heavy rounds into one and then slid under it to hit its underbelly, which had killed it fully. The pack had about six of them, so there were five left after that. He would have to focus on keeping his distance, like usual, but it would be harder with the flying Griffons. The first thing that he did was fire at the wings of two of them. It didn't seem to do much damage but after a couple seconds the Griffons were forcefully brought to the ground. The dust Levi fired were gravity crystals that would keep them down for the meantime. He started to fire at the other ones, although he couldn't get more gravity dust on the others as they started to fly sporadically. He prepared to fire a charged shot at one of the ones that were untouched, but before he could one of them charged him. He was forced to dodge while still getting the _Rote Bedrohung_ ready to fire. Once the time had come, he lined his shot up and was able to get two of them with a single blow. This had caught the others off guard and let Levi finish the two Griffons who had been pinned before. There were two left but they wouldn't go down without a fight. Before Levi was able to follow up, the two had charged him. The combined attack would prove difficult to dodge, as when he tried to dodge one the other would follow up to hit him. The first hit had gotten him down to almost twenty percent of his aura, but he was able to put a few shots into the one that just attacked him. The other had geared up to rush him again. Before it could, however, Levi had put everything into it. The hail fire had killed it outright with the other weakened from before. After reloading quickly, he had fired his last remaining dust, which had finally put an end to the beast. With that over, the rest of the day would go by more smoothly, mostly being that Levi was forced to call it a day to let his aura recover. What surprised him the most was June's actions coming back from her defending. It was the first time he ever saw her collapse from exhaustion, or anything. She had come to the tent they were staying and had simply fell on her bag and was knocked out. Levi figured out that she hadn't slept since they got there, also finding out that she would act as a scout when the team had some free time. What got his attention, though, was that she was able to hide being fatigued well. After that, Levi had went to get rest, as the next day would be the last.

The morning was chaotic. The airship picking up JULI to replace them with the escort would come in the afternoon, so their trouble wasn't over yet. The day had also seemed to attract even more Grimm than usual. Levi's job would be harder, and the rest of JULI would find difficulty as well. At first it seemed that there was just a lot of Grimm instead of stronger ones, but as the afternoon drew near, the beasts had started to appear stronger. After Levi had killed some beowolves, a couple of Ursa's had charged him. He dodged the first and ducked under the second while firing at them both, and while their backs were turned he was able to kill one and weaken the other. He loaded four more shots and fired. The final rounds had killed the last of the two. Levi wouldn't have much time to recover, though, as he was interrupted by some Griffons. However, the same as last time, they weren't accompanied by a Sphinx leader. They were different, though, fighting harder and more ferociously as though they wanted something. It was odd but it would prove worrisome as they wouldn't give Levi any chance to recover. When he had to reload he would find himself being ganged up on by the others in the pack, forcing him to dodge and ignore reloading. He was starting to get pushed into a corner, and the Griffons were attacking faster, which was draining his aura rapidly. He had been put down to fifty percent before he was forced to used one of his trump cards. Levi had a bad habit of waiting to use something important for the last second, something that might get him killed some day. The _Rote Bedrohung_ had recently been upgraded as a suggestion from June. Although she brought it up, Levi had been considering upgrading the weapon for awhile. He hadn't had much practice with it but it would have to do for now. The new upgrade allowed the weapon to separate into two different pieces, with one piece becoming a revolver and the new piece becoming a prod/blade hybrid that used one of the cylinders as an energy source. The prod was able to switch the effects it had on things depending on the dust used, but the blade end could also be infused with dust to apply effects to things, besides being just a blade. Although he wasn't familiar with it yet, he was still able to cut down the closest one while using the revolver counterpart to suppress the others. The dust he used in the prod had been infused with fire dust that was able to burn through the Griffon and kill it with relative ease. It was a lot more effective than he thought it would be, so it was a good revelation. He had ran empty in the revolver and the others started to rush him once they realized he was out. It would be less extreme than the day before, with his new weapon and that their was less Griffons than yesterday. He was forced to slide under the first one, cutting its underbelly while doing so, and then reloaded his revolver. Levi then fired at the ground in front of another one. The dust he was using was earth dust and the ammo had caused an eruption of dirt that knocked the griffon into the air, which had stunned and damaged it. There was one left he hadn't touched and it had caught him off guard, damaging him and lowering his aura. After that, he used basic ammunition to finish off the one he cut early. The griffon that had been stunned was just recovering when he used his prod to electrocute the Grimm, and then he finished it off with the revolver. That left one out of the three left, but before he could start attacking it again, something had started to cast a shadow above him. It seemed that he was wrong to assume that the Griffons didn't have a pack leader. The Sphinx had crashed down with three other griffons, throwing Levi back and draining his aura even more. He was running below fifty percent already but he couldn't get help with the Griffons blocking him, so he was forced to fight. It had been years since the last time he fought one and, although he wasn't one hundred percent confident in himself, he was curious to see how much he had improved. He knew he would have to reassemble the _Rote Bedrohung_ in order to stun the beast, but he would have to take care of the Griffons first. Two of them had started to charge at Levi, and when they got close he had crouched down to cut at their legs. The heated blade had cut the unarmored legs like butter, disabling them for a bit. He then used lightning dust to stun the creatures, which had prevented them from flying away. While they were stunned, he replaced his ammo with sticky rounds and fired them at the remaining two. These had been gravity dust projectiles, and he had used them to get their heads forced to the ground. He then loaded some fire dust and put a whole mag into one of them, which had killed it outright. Then, he turned and had to kill the two stunned Griffons behind. He had killed the first one with a quick slice to its head, but before he could get the other one the Sphinx had used its tail to launch a fireball at him. He was forced to dodge and the delay had let the Griffon recover and fly off. It was a problem but he had to focus on the other that was stunned. However, it had also recovered in the time the Sphinx gave it. With two Griffons left and the fact he was low on ammo, he was starting to see a problem. Levi started to put the _Rote Bedrohung_ in its original form while the Sphinx started to use its fireballs as mortars. After half-a-minute of dodging he had his full weapon back, which he started to charge up. There was another problem coming up, though, as the Griffons had recovered and started to charge him again. The one he cut the leg off of had started to charge him faster than the other, and looked as though it was willing to kill itself to return what Levi had done to it. It held a grudge but Levi wouldn't let that happen. When it had just gotten to him he was able to sidestep and fire at where its leg used to be. It shrieked in pain and Levi had started to get close to use a raw dust crystal to kill it, as the _Rote Bedrohung_ was still charging. When he got close, it used its wings to knock him away. What seemed to be a last ditch effort was actually to get Levi in place. It was then that one of the fireballs had hit Levi. It hit hard, the blast sending him back and dropping his aura to five percent. The _Rote Bedrohung_ had also been knocked away from him. He was cornered with no weapon to defend himself, and the pack had seen this. The Sphinx and the two Griffons had started to approach him. Levi stood up but he wasn't concerned at all. If Grimm knew how to distinct facial expressions, they would've been a little cautious getting close. Something had started to rumble underneath the Grimm, stopping them as they started to look around to see what it was. Nothing was close but before they could get closer to Levi, it got more intense and started to stun the creatures. Then, a collection of pillars formed from earth had started to rise up and hit the Grimm from below. The force was enough to kill the two Griffons and stun the Sphinx, and while this was happening Levi had grabbed the Rote Bedrohung and fired its charged shot at the Sphinx. His semblance had been his clutch the entire time. Although he was thankful for it, it was a bitch to train with as in order for it to activate he needed to be below ten percent of his aura. Its power was to cause quakes in the surrounding area that could change in intensity as per his command. Because if it activation conditions, the semblance didn't cost him aura for the first thirty seconds of use, but it was dependent on how big the quake was. The pillars, however, was something he did himself just in case he was weakened, which involved planting earth dust with detonators around the area. The Sphinx was still recovering from the quakes it was hit, and it was severely damaged by the shot. Levi then loaded heavier rounds into the second cylinder and had unloaded into the stunned beast. The damage it had taken before the earth pillars had hit it had made a second charged shot not needed to kill. It had been reduced to a black corpse that started to decay after a couple seconds. Levi had collapsed once they were gone, exhausted from the battle. His aura wasn't completely drained but he would need time to recover.

After Levi had reported what happened, June took over his side to let him recover. The day had started to go by fast, and although he was recovering, Levi was helping with the final preparations before leaving. The ship to take them back to Vale had arrived as Uruclay had almost been taken out. The team to replace them would take care of the defending for the rest of the day, and for the trip to Vale. JULI had packed up and got on the airship to head back. On their way, it seemed that June was back to studying something on her scroll. Some time into the trip, June had to talk to Levi about something. "What you want J," Levi was the only one who called her that, but she didn't care, "I just needed to talk to you about something," and then she sat down beside him with her scroll. She sent him the footage she had of him fighting, and then explained that she was going to try and give him tips on his CQC. "I appreciate the help but I wouldn't want to cut a hole in this thing," Levi had added in a sarcastic and almost showing off tone. June only sighed and told him to get his scroll. He complied and the two went over what she saw while Levi also explained in detail what he did because the footage was a little weird. After about an hour of reviewing, Levi wanted to stop and June had let him rest more. The airship had landed back at Beacon and the team had settled down. Ozpin had given them a day of rest, though, so the team had used it to just relax, much to Levi's delight...


	17. The Final Mission (Beacon Finale)

**Authors Note:** I'm happy to announce that a fan of the story has reviewed it and added it to the RWBY Fanon Wiki found on the Fandom website. Credit is due, as I couldn't make this myself with the little time I have, and his username is DuHassJr. I've worked with him to provide some extra facts for trivia and things I may have forgot to mention in story. If you want to know things like that and a little better character descriptions, arguably, I recommend reading it. With the stories addition to the Wiki, I have to start following some rules of it in this story to keep it there. This doesn't change any pre-established plot points or character looks, as I intended to go along with canon, making the rules something I already followed instinctively. He may have recommended it but I've been reading some of the Fanon Wiki's and this chapter will be the first time I use something from there. DuHassJr has agreed to take ownership over the Wiki, so if anyone else wishes to make changes to it, you'll have to ask him. It's honestly relieving to have some rules to follow, but, ignoring that, it's time to finish the Beacon Saga with chapter 17!

Their last year had gone by quite fast. It seemed that JULI would approach graduation faster than they though, and most of them were worried about the final. June, even though she kept her cool expression, was also a little concerned. She was used to unexpected outcomes but she was still worried her about her teammates. They were all great in battle and they were pretty good at their classwork, so there wasn't any reason to worry. However, she still worried about them. To resemble a Hunters unpredictable career, the finals would be random and could be either an exam, a mission of some sort, or a mix of both depending on the mission and exam. Most of the time, danger ratings, or shortened to DR-#, are not high enough on missions to bypass an exam portion, but there have been cases where a horde of DR-3 Grimm have been classified as low DR-4, which would make an exam unnecessary. Nearing the second semesters end, it was seeming that JULI would have no mission. However, a week before the exam would be taken, something had alerted perimeter and long range radars off the coast of the island of Patch. It was realized to be a Grimm force, as scouting airships were sent to investigate. With scouting done and a DR-4 determined, the force would be at Patch in two days. Although not recommended by the council, forces of Hunters were spread out thin, so Ozpin had picked JULI for the job. Asking Atlas for military support had been brought up too; however, a force of airships wouldn't make it in time, and STRQ wasn't chosen because of Taiyangs attachment to the island, as Ozpin assumed that he'd want to stay with his family when they would evacuate and settle down temporarily because they were on the half of the island being evacuated. JULI would be forced to hold off the invasion in the most northern coast of patch, as it was a relatively small area and JULI would be able to cover it well. If any other Grimm were to stray off there would be extra Hunters spread out, thinly at that, making them too far to assist JULI if it was needed. The force still had some unknowns but in the worst case JULI could send a request for help from the other Hunters, and the help of a small fleet of outdated airships Vale would use as a last resort. JULI was brought to the island of Patch the night before the invasion.

The team and Hunters assembled for the job would stay in an encampment located fourteen kilometers from where JULI would be placed. Since the camp was improvised, it was nothing but tents containing everything they would need for tomorrow. Storage tents held the dust and rations, there were tents that the Hunters would stay in over the night, and pre-manufactured landing pads for the airships that would constantly come and go. Ozpin had personally came to the camp to provide mission briefing to them all. "Let's make this quick," he started, "you'll all certainly need the sleep for tomorrow. The Grimm force in question has evened out as DR-4 and will require the most effort by our backing team, JULI. However, the Hunters spread out further among the coast have an important job of clearing any excess of Grimm straying from the main force. The horde is mainly aerial, consisting of Nevermores, Griffons, and Sphinxes leading some of the Griffons. However, we have used sonar to identify movement underwater. The latest report show these as small, fast moving creatures, but we'll be incapable of taking anymore tests as of tonight to ensure safety of the people manning them." He stopped, and he looked as though he was changing his tone. "I tell you this with the best of intentions," he had started again, but in a more serious tone, "don't let anything personal prevent you for asking for help if needed. We may be stretched out thin, but if something big comes out to surprise us, we need you to report it immediately. I don't think ego is a problem for any of you, I just needed to make myself clear, as we still don't know truly what lies underneath the water." Levi had raised his hand and Ozpin asked what it was, "If we were to run out of dust during the invasion, how would we replenish it." Ozpin had started to answer him, "I was waiting for one of you to ask that. The airships moving between the kingdom and here are setting up a singular tent area close to the shore for a place to restock ammo to JULI. As for the Hunters, I recommend bringing as much as you can as we aren't able to set up dedicated restock areas for you. For JULI, I recommend that some of you conserve ammo while others use more, to make a chain of replacing members restocking and currently fighting." June nodded in agreement, and Ozpin had finished explained everything. He left on an airship, and JULI would get their rest for the next day.

The first signs of the invasion were expected to arrive at 0800, so JULI had gotten up at 0600 in order to get geared up and to be brought to the beachhead. It would take about five minutes of flying to get there, and they were flown in at 0715, giving them time to prepare. The beachhead was a small bay, the water extending no longer than 2000 meters. June had kept the team close to make supporting each other easy, but far enough so Levi and Ino would be able to kill things on the edge of the bay at range. After some time waiting, the first signs of Grimm had started to show. The first wave was small, consisting of a variety of Nevermores and some Griffons that strayed from larger packs. June and Uruclay were forced to use their weapons ranged counterparts in order to do something without waiting for them to get close. Once more Griffons had started to show up, though, the two switched back and would fight the Griffons already landed while Ino and Levi would take care of the other flying creatures. As the larger force had drew near, the signs of what came up underwater were starting to show. June had noticed it first, finding ripples in the water that were farther out, and they weren't caused by anything above the water. She was forced to focus on the current Grimm there, as the first Sphinx had shown up. Unlike the teams first encounter though, and unlike Levi's case, it was dispatched of quickly. It still went down with a fight, though, striking Levi and forcing June to use her semblance for a split second in order to dodge an attack. It was taken out by June disabling it while Levi and Ino had finished it with a hail fire of dust. More Griffons had showed up with the Sphinx and JULI had focused on them after taking out the Sphinx. They continued on holding back the force for a couple minutes before it seemed the forces were getting weaker, but there was a larger Nevermore and some Griffons still waiting in the air. When they had decided to come down to attack, they had singled out June. This was due to a preference the somewhat smarter creatures had over the others, as she had been singled out and closer to the shore than the rest, trying to push some Griffons back to the sea. First, the large Nevermore had landed in between the space separating June from the rest of JULI. It was then followed by the Griffons, who were immediately distinguishable by the more bone white armor they had compared to their counterparts. Her ambush would force her to use the _Angeli_ _Cadunt_ more. Although they landed after the Nevermore, the Griffons charged her first, and she had dodged the attack while hitting two of the Griffons with a flurry of kicks and nun-chuck attacks. After she knocked them back, there was an opening on the Nevermore, which was about to use some of its feathers as projectiles. Before it could do that to her, though, she had sheathed _Cadunt_ and disconnected it from _Angeli_. She then used the gravity crystal connectors and used it as a form of lasso that attached her to the leg of the Nevermore, then using it to pull herself closer to the bird. It wasn't able to react to the action fast enough, and she was able to get on its back. When it realized what happened, it started to take off and fly sporadically to shake her off. To stay on, June had taken _Cadunt_, deployed a double-edged knife blade from the bottom, and had stabbed it into the beast. It had recoiled and let out a grunt but had shrugged it off and continued its shaking. She then did the same with _Angeli_ and used the connecting cylinders as a rope to hang on. Then, she started to move the blades of each handle around in attempt to steer it, but it wasn't making a difference at first. To act as a catalyst, she took two electric dust crystals and stabbed them into the Nevermore right next to where _Angeli_ and _Cadunt_ were wedged in. It had immediately made it recoil and she had started to move the crystals with the two blades, which allowed her to steer it like she hoped, though not very accurately. She had started to steer it back towards the shore but the Nevermore tried one more time to shake her off before crash landing. It resisted the pain for a couple seconds and flipped 180 degrees upside down while using its wing feathers to try and hit her. June held on tight and was forced to use her semblance to dodge one of the hits, however, she had been fine and the Nevermore continued downward. After about a couple more seconds of falling, June had taken out _Angeli_ _Cadunt_ and jumped off the bird. Her plan had worked almost perfectly, it being to ram the Nevermore into the group of Griffons. There had been five of them but only two of them had realized something was wrong and flew away. The other three would be killed by the ramming along with the Nevermore. Her eject had led her to be farther down the shore than she already was, as she was now in the water whenever the waves would come up. Before she could start after the remaining two, something had come out of the water and grabbed her. It had surprising speed, being able to grab June before she could use her semblance. It was a Grimm with claws that pierced her skin with her guard down. It then started to pull her into the water, but before it could bring her farther in, she had taken _Angeli_ _Cadunt_ and sliced off its short arm. She had used her semblance to increase its speed, unknowing of how durable the creature was. Thankfully, it seemed it wasn't too durable as it cut through it like butter with only a little use of her semblance. With its arm cut off and injured, the thing retreated back into the water. Once the arm disintegrated, June used her aura to heal it. The encounter had wasted close to five percent of her aura with the use of her semblance and healing her wound. She had ran back more inward, and joined JULI again in clearing the beachfront. When there was some small intermission, she warned the others not to get close to the water, as there was something underneath. They would all listen to her, but it seemed the creatures had more to show. After about ten more minutes of smaller assaults from Griffons and smaller Nevermore, with the occasional Sphinx, the Grimm from before had shown themselves to be amphibious. The first one had jumped out of the water onto the beach, and started to head towards the team. Uruclay would be the first person it would go for, as he was the closest. June was concerned about the encounter, still unsure of its true abilities, but it was slower than the one she encountered before. This led her to think they were faster in water, so she felt more at ease, thinking it wouldn't be able to outrun Uruclay. In the meantime, he had engaged the beast, which had a face similar to an Ursa if it was a little smaller and had a little less teeth. It also had a long body, like a large ferret, but had longer legs and stronger hind legs. It was something that JULI had never seen, so Uruclay wasn't sure if the bone white armor lacing its back was common, or a sign of an older one. He started by going for its head with the _Geheimnisvoller_ _Wald's_ blade. When he got it behind the beast, it had tried biting at his head. Using his left arm and aura, he stopped it from chomping down with his open palm and elbow. Even with aura, doing this to an unknown creature was very risky, but he found that its biting power came from the sharp teeth it had and not jaw strength. When he started to make the motion to cut its head off, though, it rolled over and freed itself from his grasp while knocking Uruclay over. His tanky aura had taken the blow in stride, barely scraping it, but what the beast lacked in strength, it had in speed. It was back on its feet only a couple seconds after it rolled over, and then attacked Uruclay again. Knowing he wouldn't be able to get up in time, he bent his legs and kicked as hard as he could when it got close enough. Although it was longer than it was tall, it had still been sent upward from the blow, giving Uruclay enough time to grab the _Wald_ and get up. In one fell swoop, the weapon had transformed into its rifle counterpart and he fired under its jaw while it was still recovering. Although the rounds were not as large as a sniper round, the bullet had killed the creature, which proved it was relatively weak. He got back up and went back into his position relative to JULI.

Once the second wave had come, it was distinguished from the first in under ten minutes. It became obvious there was more when a small horde of the otter-like Grimm had come out of the water. There had been more Sphinxes than before and peak Nevermores had also shown themselves. JULI was put under major stress, but held out for as long as they could. Levi and Uruclay had found themselves taking on a Sphinx pair, assuring their teammates they could take them as long as they prevented outside interference. After about a ten minute struggle, the pair had killed them off while June and Ino had fended off more of water Grimm and Griffons. The fight hadn't been too taxing but had damaged the duo more than other Grimm in the invasion, with Levi losing ten percent of his aura while Uruclay had lost twelve percent due to taking more hits for Levi. It had been grueling, with all of them losing a little less than half of their aura. June, however, had managed to keep hers around 85 percent, as she wasn't pressured to use her semblance that much and could avoid stronger hits. Even though their auras weren't pressured, the team had started to become exhausted by the amount of Grimm, easily more than there was at Outlook. After what felt like an eternity, which was two-to-three hours of near constant assault, the force had started to die down. All the water Grimm had seemed to disappear and Sphinxes and large Nevermores had also gone, with the rest of the Grimm being the Griffons and the occasional Beowolf wandering from the inner island. It was then that they all noticed something rising from the water. Whatever it was, it was a Grimm, but it had a long snout and a giant sail on its back, resembling a prehistoric creature. The spine of the thing was bulkier than one would expect for speed underwater but it would soon be revealed why it had such a bulky sail. It had split open and revealed some pulsing red organ that started to take in saltwater and churn it around itself. JULI could do nothing but watch, as the creature, although not very big, was too far for any real damage to be done. It also didn't help that it had instinctively protected the organ. Once half-a-minute had gone by, there were electric pulses coming from the beast, and, finally, a large electromagnetic pulse had exploded from it. JULI braced, unknowing of what the blast would do, but it had done nothing. It was then June checked her scroll and realized that the blast had eliminated any form of contact to reinforcements. At first, she didn't know what to do. Thankfully, whatever the beast was had started to retreat once it had done that. The next problem was figuring out if they could leave, as without proper contact they wouldn't be sure when the Grimm truly died down. After telling the rest of the team, and checking their scrolls to confirm, they were equal parts relieved and annoyed. "You're telling me we have to stay out here even longer," was Ino's first response. As pointless as the complaint seemed, everything that had happened was truly unpredictable, even for a Huntsmen team. "I know that we're all exhausted," June started, "but we should restock and be prepared just in case." Her tone had a hint of concern and tiredness, but the team complied and they restocked. JULI had went to restock, all except June, who had restocked recently and didn't need more. While she was waiting, something started to disturb the water farther out. Whatever it was, it started to create small waves as it the seafloor grew closer to the shore. A sail had started to peer out of the water soon after, which June at first thought was the mysterious creature from before returning. However, as the sail came out more, it was white with no hint of red and had a more spiky sail. It was also... larger. June had physically recoiled when she realized what it was, and rushed to where the rest of JULI were, almost using her semblance in the process. They were halfway back from the supply tents when she met up with them. They had never seen June dawn such rushed expressions, simply telling them that they needed to hurry, "Now!" JULI ran as fast as they could towards the beach. Once they got there, they could now see what had gotten June's attention. The beast had rose from the water, showing off its exposed rib-cage and menacing six eyes that flickered in the direction of JULI. It was a Leviathan, a DR-5 creature that JULI could only dream of guaranteeing a kill on without heavy ordinance. June had grabbed her scroll to see if it was working. At first, it looked as though it was booting up, and even let June record for only a second, but it had quickly shut off, as it still had problems. The rest of JULI had attempted this as well, with Uruclay being able to get it on for a little bit longer than June, but all of it was to no avail. The true test to their skills had found itself, and June had realized they would have to fight to prevent the creature from reaching the island. The EMP must have caused concern and fear on the island to increase, therefore the creature must have been brought closer. June put her scroll away and started to reassure her team, keeping calm and trying to inspire them while telling them her plan. It had worked, for the most part, as they all nodded their heads in agreement and took their positions. June would take point while the rest stayed behind her as supporting fire, with Uruclay closer to Levi to protect him if he needed to used a charged shot. Uruclays usual tank position would have to be ignored, as it was unlikely he would be able to resist the full strength of a Leviathan. It slowly approached the beach, and after it got there it had started to roar. June had sprung forward, using her semblance to fire up like a bullet. Before the beast could swing at her, the rest of JULI fired at the beast, and it had effected the beast a little. As minor as the bullet hell was for the thing, its small recoil gave June an opening on beast, and she was able to land on it. She started up its arm and used her full speed while deploying the blades from _Angeli_ _Cadunt_. Her path was a spiral up its arm, and the dust infused attacked had damaged the beast. It had recoiled heavily and showed nothing had hit it that hard before. JULI were astounded by the hard hit, with Levi following up with a charged shot from the _Rote_ _Bedrohung_. The Grimm had also recoiled from this, although less than June's, but even with both of their assaults, it had recovered fine. The recovery was also quick, with it immediately firing an electric fire breath towards Levi. It was fast and Levi didn't have enough time to dodge, but Uruclay had rushed to move him and try to shield him at best. Although he was able to move them both, the blasts splash effect had hit both of them hard, with Levi looking completely out of commission. He tried to fire at the beast, getting one shot in before realizing it wouldn't do anything, especially with the little aura he knew he was left with. All this did was grab its attention and it prepared to swing at him. June had then went for its head, sliding across in a similar manner as before. She went for its eyes, taking out all three on its left side. However, when she rushed towards the other three, it showed some cunning and had used its right arm to shield its eyes. June had then tried attacking its hand to weaken it and get it off, but it had done nothing. Her extensive semblance use had drained her exponentially, and she could feel herself getting weaker. She had to go on though, and she had thought off a new plan. She signaled to Ino to get to Levi and Uruclay to see how Levi was doing. The Leviathan wasn't planning on letting Ino move, though, using its left to try and crush Ino. It had surprising speed and took Ino off guard. With no time to dodge, it looked as though it was the end for her. In a split second, a blue flash had appeared. While June was using her full speed she had only a second to use with her current aura, but this was what she perceived as a second, as the real time going by was milliseconds. In that time, she was accustomed to things moving extremely slow, some coming to what seemed to be a stop. However, the beast had been moving faster than slow. With very little time, she spiraled around its hand and wrist area while moving Ino some distance away. She couldn't move her far, in fear her aura would drain completely, and had stopped using her semblance. The Leviathan screeched in pain but still hit the ground with tremendous force. This had knocked Ino back and did major damage as it kept the speed it was using before. It had almost knocked her out, so she was spread out on the ground defenseless and could only watch. June was exhausted and her aura flickered. She had one more chance to stun the beast, but she would have to hope for a miracle to win, or get it to run. She had another last resort. Most nun-chuck masters are accustomed to using two of the weapon instead of just one, which June has trained in before relying on one weapon. A second pair of _Angeli_ _Cadunt_ had been created that year as a gift by Amica, with the new pair being called _Angutus_ _Ortus_. The weapon had the same functions as its original pair, its true function being its synchronization with its original counterpart. June took out the _Angutus_ _Ortus_ and connected it to the _Angeli_ _Cadunt_. This created a staff-like weapon, except smaller and would work as more than just a stick, which connected by stiffening the gravity crystals and combining them from end-to-end. Once the attaching process was complete, she rushed the Leviathan. She would have to outsmart it to save her aura, so her plan involved tricking it. First, she rushed the set of eyes that she hadn't gotten before. The thing had instinctively put its hand on it to protect itself, and then she went to the left side and fired at the open wound. The combined weapon, called _Pruergium_, combined the firing capabilities of all the weapons and allowed it to become an anti-material rifle. It could only fire once at a time but firing into the open wound had made the creature screech in pain. It had used its right arm to cover the injury and try to crush June. She jumped when the movement started and retracted the blade from _Pruergium_. Then, she would use the blade to stab it in the chest, allowing herself to stop in the air. However, the Leviathan had stepped back, using a lot of its energy to quickly move back. June had to something quick, and she decided to use the rifles knock back to boost her towards it. Unfortunately, it had taken its left arm off the wound and had started to slash at her. If she used her round to avoid the hit, she wouldn't be able to guarantee getting to its chest. It was then that the water had started to shake, obviously being disturbed. June thought it to be another Grimm, thinking the worst, but when she glanced at where Levi and Uruclay were, Levi was crouched down with his open palms in the sand. He had used his semblance, figuring out his aura was low enough for use. He wouldn't be able move it without extensive use of it that could do damage, however, Uruclay had been giving him his aura to assist in doing it. The combined effort had made the beast lose balance, and June had her opening. They were putting everything into her attack, so she was going to try and not let them down. After she had fired the _Pruergium_ and stabbed into its chest to land, she used the weapons hard light dust core to create something capable of piercing the Leviathans skin. With the combination of _Angeli_ _Cadunt_ and _Angutus_ _Ortus_, their hard light cores combined into one and allowed the _Pruergium_ to create larger constructs. It created several extended bent knife arms that cut into the beast, which gave the weapon more support. Then, after extending further into its skin, the blades started to spin at fast speeds. Before the Grimm had time to react, June fired another round into it, and then created several hard light recreations of the _Pruergium's_ rifle part once the blades were finished cutting open holes into it. Hard light weapons were incapable of recreating the effects of dust and ammo, so she would use her semblance to reload the constructs withing seconds. Her usage of her speed had lasted a little under a second, but it would be the most she could get out. Before she was fully drained, she retracted the _Pruergium_ and leaped back onto the beach. Once she landed, she had dropped to her knees and her aura had dissipated. Exhausted, she had looked up to see what had become of the Leviathan. It was still, a gaping wound in its chest, and it looked as though it was falling back. She sighed in relief and started to drop her head. When she looked back up to check on her teammates, she noticed that they were fine, but she had seen something else on the edge of the bay. She was too far to make out exactly what it was, but it was black and had a humanoid figure, as though it was hooded. After a couple seconds of looking, it had flee'd at an alarming speed. She started to question what it was and had thought it cou- June's thoughts were interrupted with a rumble and quake, and when she looked up, the Leviathan had braced itself from its fall and started to approach where Uruclay and Levi were. Her spirit was broken and could only watch as it started to charge its electric breath while facing them. Levi had used his remaining strength to grab _Rote Bedrohung_ and tried to fire, but he was too weak to get enough rounds out. Uruclay was also too exhausted to try to move because of his combined semblance use with Levi. June desperately needed to do something. She was overwhelmed with a sense of protecting her teammates and wanted to keep them alive. It was then that something had triggered inside of her.

The bay shown a brilliant silver light, reflecting off the water and giving an intensity seemingly equal to the sun. The light enveloped the Leviathan, turning it to stone near instantly. Its weakened state and the more powerful and ruthless light had killed the beast some seconds after it turned to stone. All of JULI were confused about what just happened, and when they turned to June they were only more confused. She had been in her crouching stance but her eyes were now ignited with a silver fire. A second after the Leviathan was killed, she fell to the floor, completely unconscious. Ino had recovered enough to walk and run normally, and went to attend to her. After another twenty minutes of waiting, an airship had come to pick them up. After looking at Uruclay, they concluded that he wouldn't need any treatment, but that June was something they didn't know how to treat. Levi would be fine, his aura simply drained. Ozpin was waiting for them back at the campsite, being alerted of the EMP and was concerned about his Hunters. He called the rest of JULI to meet him alone, and he asked what happened to their leader. "I- We're not sure," was Ino's first response, which both Levi and Uruclay had nodded in agreement. "Well," Ozpin had went off from that, "begin with what happened after the blackout." Ino had begun to explain what happened, with the Grimm that had been the origin of the EMP, and the reveal of the Leviathan. "I... saw that," he cut her off, "your scrolls were able to capture it for a couple seconds, and I'm truly happy you all were able to get out of there alive." They all looked down, and then Ino had went on to explain the battle. "Once we thought it was finished, or retreating, " she had gotten to the end, "it had got back up and started to get close to Levi and Uruclay. I could see that June was concerned, but the next thing I saw was a blinding white light. After the light went away, the Leviathan was dissolving while June collapsed on the ground." Now he knew. Ozpins answer to June's knowledge of Silver-Eyed Warriors had finally shown. He dismissed them and visited where June was put. He had then opened her eyes. Her blue eye color was gone, and in its place was a shining silver. The contacts she wore were burnt away when she used her power, and now her secret was revealed. Ozpin left the tent and told caregivers that he had seen this before and that she was fine, only needing rest to recover. He also advised them that they needed to leave her alone to guarantee her safety. They weren't sure of it but trusted the headmasters judgement. After some time, JULI were brought back to Beacon.

June had woke up two days later, with everything still in some pain but not bad. She was greeted by Ino, who hugged her when she woke up. June hugged back and asked what happened. "Well," Ino had started, "after the mission, we were exempt from the written exam and put off school until graduation because the mission was concluded to be a DR-5. When it came to the mission, after your... stunt, we were picked up shortly after and brought home fine." June was relieved to here, then realized that she had no contacts. "So," June had stopped short, "every one of you saw that." Ino thought it a weird question, as someone would have to be blind to not see that, but questioned her about why she would keep something big like that a secret. Deeming it too late to keep a secret, and the trust she developed over the years with her team, she told Ino that she would explain once Levi and Uurclay had come back. Ino , after finding the two in the Library, had grabbed the two of them and brought them back. They both hugged June, happy that she was OK, but she then got to the point. She started to tell the story of the Silver-Eyed Warriors, including their ability to kill Grimm with a single stare. It made sense how she could do that now and she continued. Her next explanation was that people were hunting the warriors, and, at that, extremely skilled people were doinf it. She also added that, being told by her father, she was a prodigy among prodigies, as a normal warrior would only be able to freeze something that big in stone. Now they knew the reason for her hiding, but Ino realized something else quickly after June finished. "Wait," Ino had broken the silence, "doesn't that mean Summer would... be apart of that?" There had been silence, as Levi and Uruclay realized she had the power, and June had broken the new silence half-a-minute later, "Yeah, she does. But she doesn't know of them." The mood was ruined. Ino had tried to get everyone doing something else, asking June how she felt. June, realizing what she was doing, had told her she was fine and that she could walk. She then got up and started to stretch. Levi and Uruclay followed suit, helping the mood change to something more relaxing. After a couple days of resting, June was called to Ozpins office about something. It wasn't too unusual but Summer had greeted June at the elevator leading to the top of the tower. In the elevator, she explained that Ozpin had wanted her to join in. Now June was curious what he was trying to accomplish. Summer had taken a place a couple feet from June when she sat down. "Quite an impressive feat to take on a Leviathan," Oz had started, "Well, an understatement for a single Huntsmen team being able to pull it off. The real question is: How did you do it?" June had ignored the vagueness and got straight to the point, "Why do you care about my silver eyes, and how do you know anything about it." Summer had quickly glanced at June, confused by her statement, as June had been wearing sunglasses to hide her eyes before she had gotten more contacts. "Summer," Oz had continued, "I brought you here for a reason. Both of you have silver eyes, but one of you knows more than the other." Now both of them looked at each other, shocked, but for different reasons. Summer didn't see her eye color until June took off her glasses to show them, and June didn't realize Ozpin had told her about her powers. "Now," Oz prevented them from asking each other questions, "I called you up here June to... tell you about something. I've already asked you about fairy tales, but what if I told you they were true?" Her expression didn't change, and Oz had went on, "I wouldn't usually just tell anyone this but you should know the reason why you were pit against a Leviathan and introduced to two new types of Grimm. The Grimm have a form of leader, a powerful entity who exudes some control over the beasts that threaten humanity. Her name is Salem." Now June reacted, confused and unbelieving of the information. However, when she looked to Summer, she nodded in agreement, showing she knew too. "I know it's a bit to take in but I feel you deserve an explanation," Oz had explained, "as you were put against overwhelming odds. Although, you defended yourself and your team, so I'll explain the rest. Our current theory is that Salem had arranged an assault on the island, hoping to gain a foothold on Vale for a future attack. That's why the horde had shown some form of a plan on the Grimm's part." It made sense. Grimm wouldn't have randomly just attacked without incentive, or a spike in negative emotions, which nothing had happened recently on Patch. "If this Salem is a sentient leader of Grimm," June had started to ask, "does that mean she's the one hunting Silver-Eyed Warriors?" Oz had paused and answered honestly, "I'm... not sure, but it's fare to say she probably is." She didn't know what to say while keeping to herself the mysterious figure she saw nearing the end of the battle. After Oz had explained that she should keep it a secret, even from her teammates, he dismissed the both of them. They talked about their powers, and Summer had thought the contact thing was a good idea. She still wasn't going to use them, though, as it was a little too late for her to do it. Then, June had brought up graduation, which would take place two weeks from then. Summer still was waiting for exam results while hoping that she had passed. A quick reassurance from June had calmed that down, but it was still a matter of time before she got the results.

The two weeks had gone by slowly, every senior in Beacon waiting for graduation and all the other students wanting school to be over. Finally, the day had come, and all senior teams were assembled to graduate. JULI and STRQ were waiting as Ozpin started to announce teams and giving them their 'degrees.' At last, JULI had been called up. "This team has shown brilliant thinking," Oz had started to announce, "cunning strategy, and promising skills. Most recently, their final mission had been perilous as they went against overwhelming odds. However, they pulled through and showed what they were capable of. I would like to call Team JULI up." He gestured to where they were seated, and everyone clapped as usual. JULI were all extremely happy, mostly to be happy to get out in the world, with June being the one thinking this. Her sense of adventure and protecting people never faded from her childhood, and now she was finally able to get out there for good. Although not making that many, the friends she had made over the years at Beacon were going to be with her for awhile. JULI had sat back down to wait for the ceremony to be over, and they were also excited to see STRQ. Team after team had gone by and were awarded until every one had been called upon. "That concludes the ceremony," Oz had started to end it off, "now you may all be dismissed." It felt both long and short to everyone. All the seniors had already moved their possessions out of their dorms, but were allowed to stay an extra night if they wanted. JULI stayed the night while Tai and Raven had left, together surprisingly. Morning had come and the teams would bid each other a goodbye. June asked Summer what she planned on doing, and she told her she was going to stay with Tai on Patch for the time being. June planned to explore and clear up loose ends elsewhere, but was vague about it. Summer didn't mind and had got on the airship. Finally, she would say goodbye to her teammates. Uruclay had to go to Atlas to get situated and Levi planned to follow him, but stay doing his own thing instead directly joining Atlas. Ino, however, said that she wasn't sure, and planned to join June in her adventures. June was shocked but said that she wouldn't mind the company. Before Levi and Uruclay could leave, though, June had something to tell them all. "Oh yeah," she started to say, "Ozpin told me that the names of the Grimm we encountered were determined." Even with the ubiquity of Grimm, it felt nice to discover a new one. June said the name for the aquatic Grimm would be the Sabuestria, and the special, EMP Grimm would be called the Spineback. "Nice," was the thing Levi added, while Uruclay nodded with agreement that they sounded like cool names. Now, Ino and June said goodbye to Uruclay and Levi as they boarded a ship to Atlas, and June would join Ino in going to Vale which she was doing to see her parents a bit before going out. After a couple day visit to Ino's home, the two left the border of the kingdom to see what awaited them next...

This thus concludes the _Beacon Saga_.


	18. A Sandy Visit (Summer Pt 1)

Authors Note: Hello! A lot has happened since the last chapter. Let's start, I made another story called RWBY: The Prominent Summer Wind, and I think that some people might like it. There is another story I'm creating but this one is unique. This story, called RWBY: SnowFall, was a requested story from a fan, and I've explained who this is in the first chapter of that story. I am willing to take one or, maybe, more requests if anyone wants, as I think if I took up too much I might be overloaded. I may have more time to myself now but I won't be able to update this story as often with all these other projects. Anyway, with that, time to begin The Summer Before Fall Saga!

June and Ino had found themselves fighting off a horde of Grimm. The town they were hired by had recently held a funeral, so they were expecting some problems. However, this force seemed a little much for a simple funeral, as sad as they were. Again and again the pair seemed to have found their way into fighting more than they were expecting. It was weird and could be considered, in an odd way, lucky of them, as this is the action most Hunters wanted when leaving an academy.

Even though it had been a year since they left Beacon, it was almost as if nothing had changed. They wore the same outfits and fought the same way. It was then that June was rushed by a Beowolf, of which was easily brought down with a hard kick. There had been some changes, though, with June employing an ancient technique that involved her clothing. Although she was a skilled fighter, her Close-Quarters-Combat didn't work well against Grimm that weren't that small, meaning she would be forced to use Angeli Cadunt, or Angutus Ortus, faster than she would like. To fix this, she had paid a tailor and a blacksmith to create a special set of clothes for her, of which she then replaced her old clothes with, all except her cloak. Now, dust was woven into the cloth to make her hit harder. This had boosted her capabilities drastically, now being able to fight an Ursa one-on-one and kill it in under a minute without using her weapons. There were different sets of dust located in each part of her clothing, with her sleeves having gravity dust to increase her strength and agility, fire dust woven into her gloves to burn the Grimm, and a mix of ice, lightning, and more gravity dust into her pants. When using these enhancements, her base speed without using her semblance was increased. Now, it was only when something truly threatening would come up that she would have to use her weapons.

Although the force was larger than they were expecting, the Huntress pair had been able to defend the village with only a slight hint of ease. After they were finished for the day, the mayor had thanked them dearly and paid them. The excitement and happiness that had come from the village after they were done would deter another force of Grimm from showing up. Ino and June then went off to Vale after a year of being away. In their adventures over the past year, they had visited Vacuo, which had been almost a half-a-year venture.

While there, June had met up with Amica again, and he was awfully curious on how well her new weapon worked out for her. Obviously he heard about the Leviathan but, knowing her secret, he knew that it probably wasn't her weapons that had done the heavy lifting. He was, however, happy to hear that the Pruergium had done massive damage to the beast by itself, showing the pride he had for his crafting genius. When it came to finding Amica, it was actually easy. Since March had started attending Shade, the family had moved to the city of Vacuo to be closer to her. As for her sister, May had moved to Mistral, so far liking it much more than Vacuo, which was expressed in her messages.

At this point, March was in the middle of her junior year and would be on winter break. Well, the closest it could get to being winter in Vacuo was a slight temperature decrease. June and Ino would stay long enough to spend time with March, and she had changed her look. Now she wore a small breastplate, similar to June, and a baggy, tan sweatshirt with the sleeves cut short. She also wore shorts that were a tan color and had bandages that covered the rest of her arms and legs that would've been exposed otherwise. Her jet black hair was cut short, and now she had a weapon her father made for her. The weapon, called the Celectric Moore, was a pair of weapons.

Celectric was a dagger, although its blade seemed a little longer than that of a normal dagger, and Moore was a long-sword that had a bulky hilt, of which June didn't know the purpose of, yet. March, not being able to see Preurgium before June left back to Beacon, had been excited to see it. June would show her, but they had agreed to spar to see each others skill, so they left to a training area where June said she would show it. The grounds was barren, as most of the students wanted a break, and June would show her weapons potential.

"Woah," was all march could get out when she saw the new weapon. Ino had been watching from the sidelines, and was also curious to see where the Shade junior had stood when compared to June. She then disconnected the Pruergium and sheathed the two nun-chucks, and then started to explain the conditions of the sparring match.

"Alright, let's get started. I'll give you a upper hand and won't force you to show your weapons capabilities." March had just smirked and answered back.

"Up to you, but when I win, you can't complain." This had gotten a smirk from June and the two lined up opposite sides of the arena. It was just barely twenty meters to allow for some form of long ranged combat, but both women had excelled in close quarters fighting, so it wasn't likely that they would take advantage of this much. As they showed they were ready, Ino walked up and would start them off.

"Alright you two, Vytal Tournament rules, you know how it goes. Three... two... one... Fight!" The second she finished the word, March had unsheathed Celetric and had rushed June. Although this was usually not a great idea, her speed was impressive and outright shocked June. She dodged accordingly and would throw a palm strike at March's head. To her surprise, though, she had reacted fast enough to dodge and throw a counterattack at June with the Celetric. She was forced to grab the blade to try and use aura to protect herself from being cut. When she did, however, a stinging, then stabbing sensation had taken over her entire arm, as if thousands of tiny blades had stabbed her again and again in the span of a second. Whatever it came from, it was proving a massive problem. March then used her hold of the blade against her and slammed her arm and body towards the ground, and then she reached for Moore to hit a major blow. When June had realized what had caused the pain, she used it to her advantage quickly. Her signature blue flash appeared and the Moore had been sent flying away.

The sudden burst had reminded March of June's semblance, and her first plan would have to be thrown away. The Celetric was a blade made of gravity dust, so she was hoping the pain from grabbing the blade would distract her, even though such a tactic in a sparring match seemed ruthless. Obviously, this didn't work out well, and June must've realized what the cause. March would then fall back to think of something, which didn't take too long. She was partly expecting June to realize this quick, so she had a backup plan involving the use of her semblance, something she was keeping from her blue haired friend.

After she had thrown away the Moore, June had to take a couple seconds recovering from the attack. If she had kept a hand on that blade for a little longer, her arm may have gone numb from pain. It was dust. That pain only came from direct dust injection into a person, as it was a feeling one never forgot. She, admittedly, had experimented with it on herself and learned quickly why it wasn't a good idea. As for now, she should've expected how seriously March would take a match between the two of them, and now had to plan a counter. When she had waited a couple seconds for a recovery, she rushed March. The speed was something almost unexpected but March had dodged it with some effort. For twenty seconds, the two engaged in close up fighting, with June dodging every slash from March, being forced to use her dust woven clothing on her arms, and March being forced to take some hits from the constant assault. March then broke away and threw the Celetric at June, which had been at insane speeds. This speed had forced her to use her semblance. Once she had dodged it, she looked back to realize that March had grabbed the Moore. She then took the sword, switched between some of its dust cartridges, and stabbed it into the ground.

Once this had happened, June rushed towards the girl to stop whatever she was planning. Almost predictably, earth had shot up at her, and she had suspected earth dust to be the reason for the action. With multiple dodges and side steps, June had reached the planted March, who had one last trick up her sleeve. When June ran in front of the blade, March, in a quick motion, had taken the handle and brought it down ninety degrees. Then, the handle released a trigger and revealed a 40 mm barrel, as it then fired a grenade. She had been at point blank range and it was far faster than normal rounds, making dodging impossible. It was a direct hit with fire dust and blew the girl back with the blast, bringing up a smokescreen formed from sand.

March knew that the grenade would bring June's aura down to a scarce amount. She wasn't okay with a forfeit by aura percentage but she would take the win. Before the dust had cleared, though, a force had kicked March back, taking the Moore with her. When she looked up, June had been standing there bringing her leg down, as if she was unphased from the blast. Although it was a problem, she had planned for a fluke to happen. Still confused how she survived the blast, March had reached out her hand in an odd gesture.

The only reason June had survived such a blast was her semblance. Having a near complete understanding of her it, she knew that whenever she started to go at such high speeds her aura would protect her from the g-force by hardening her aura for whatever speed she was going. She took advantage of this to protect herself from the blast but it still took a large chunk from her aura. When June saw where March was, her sudden hand movements had confused the Huntress, then a noise had gotten her attention. She had instinctively moved her head to the left and had dodged the Celetric, which had zoomed past her head. The handle slammed into Moore's and had clicked in. Afterwards, Moore's blade retracted a bit and Celetric had extended to match the new length, with a circle forming around the handle. March then sprung forward with astounding speed, pointing the double sided hybrid weapon at June. Before she had reached the hooded girl, she lunged forward, making her faster but lifting her off the ground with her weapon below her. June had easily side-stepped the attack and went in for a hit to her back. However, the weapon's blade had started to spin on its new circle part and, with that, at a fast speed. Before June was able to connect her hand with march, she was forced to move out of the blades path, not knowing for sure if both of them were made of dust. After this stunt, March had recovered by keeping the blades moving, which would keep herself protected from June.

With this action, March knew what she was going to do next. Her semblance was something interesting, like most, and its unexpected development would lead to June losing this match, and, although not wanting to admit it to herself to save her pride, she knew that June was holding back.

She had seen her at the 30th Vytal Festival, which included her stunt against December in the final round. December may have been a freshmen but she was extremely skilled, beating out most Seniors at the time, and June had beat her to the point she was frozen in the arena a couple minutes after the end of the match. Once March had started to attend Shade, she realized how impressive of a feat this was, so she was going to use the combined weapon, Celmore, and her semblance for one final attack.

Before June could rush March again, she spun the blades faster until they were but a gray blur, and threw it at the girl. June prepared to dodge, or use it against her, but it would be harder than she was expecting. As she began to make a slight movement, she realized she couldn't actually move, and when she saw March, she was crouched with her hands on the ground, along with a grin plastered on her face. Her arms were then forced to her sides, along with her legs being planted together, to allow for the thrown weapon to do more damage.

A powerful semblance when used the right way, March had trained with it for the past three years attending Shade. It allowed for advanced aura manipulation, giving her the ability to spread her aura onto people and things to control them as if they were puppets. June was put into a position near impossible to escape, and she had to come up with something to get out.

All that she had done in response was smile at the predicament. It wasn't of cockiness, but of pride in her friend. Her own pride wasn't hurt by the sparring match, and she was happy to see how far March had gotten, understanding now how she was able to make it in such a hard kingdom. It was then June had vibrated intensely and would force herself to move. March had grunted, as she couldn't stop the moving. June started to move her legs and arms which started to consume massive amounts of aura on March's part. To stop herself from completely being drained, she had retracted her aura and stood up. June then jumped up and spun herself into a barrel roll while grabbing the Celmore, landing, and threw it back at double the speed. Without the Celetric to boost her speed, March was forced to take the hit from the weapon.

Once she took the hit, she was knocked back far enough to be out of the ring. With a ring out and her aura dropping below fifteen percent, March was taken out. June would've gone to help her but she had dropped to a crouch, as her stunt to break the girls aura trap had taken a considerable effort with her semblance. It would've completely drained her if she was forced to go for longer. When June was able to stand, she came over to the crouched March.

"Nice," was the first thing June had said as she held out her arm, and March wasn't much better.

"Heh, like hell that was nice," she added as she took her hand to get up. "You still beat me when you actually took it seriously, asshole," and then she shoved the girl in a playful manner.

"What? Come on, don't be too hard on yourself. You're better than half the Hunters I've meant," it wasn't at all lying, as some Hunters seemed dangerously under trained to her.

"Pff, yeah, sure," March's addition had been the last of their bantering as Ino ran up to them.

"You two OK," she asked, sounding concerned by the fights results.

"Hm, eh," March had just shrugged while doing this and walked off, telling June she'd be back at home.

"Before you start worrying, she's fine, trust me. We should look for something to do while she settles down at home for her break," Ino, being somewhat used to the people there, nodded in agreement without asking much else. As for what they would do, that was the real question. They found themselves getting a fast dinner before heading back to Amica's house. When they got there, the family had already eaten dinner and, before Amica could feel bad, the pair explained they had eaten already. Ino found herself talking to August, wanting to learn more about Mistral while June and March had caught up.

"What else aren't you telling me," June had asked March while they were talking.

"What are you on about," March followed up and June had started to ask away with some questions.

"First, we both know even an average Hunter can't just randomly immobilize their opponent, so what's up with that," she had said it with her expression changing to one of joy, feeling it was something she already suspected.

"Well, I think you already know the reason for that, girl," she had added this and June had gotten a little too excited. She hugged March and exclaimed openly she was very happy that she had discovered her semblance.

March had kneed her, wanting her to let her go. June, realizing what she had done, let go and simply said she was excited. Also adding that she was too used to Vale.

"It shows," March added in a deeper voice, but a smirk had grown on her face. "Anyway, what it is is some form of better aura manipulation. I can do a lot with it, it's even able to mimic some other abilities, although definitely not as good as some semblances dedicated to those things." She was then asked about what she could do, besides being able to use people as puppets.

"Well," March had started, "I can control things and I can change what my aura can do on contact. Like this," she then gestured for June to grab her arm. When June did grab it, her hand was shot back before it could get a grasp on March's arm.

"Interesting," June had added. The list went on, with March adding that, at a high price, she could make her aura have the same effects of some types of dust. The problem stemmed from the activation, which involved direct dust injection to replicate the effect. As bad as it sounded, March had been practicing the ability and had become somewhat resistant to the pain over time. June didn't bat an eye but she was still concerned. Before she could bring it up, though, March recognized what she was thinking.

"I would only use it as a last resort," she had said this in a more serious tone as well, "and when I say resistant, I mean I've done it twice so far to make sure it can be used reliably."

June went with this, realizing the sudden change in her tone. They spent the rest of the night talking about March's time at Shade, but, before they could talk about Beacon, it was time for the Huntresses to leave. They weren't staying with Amica, although they said they would let them stay. They had decided to stay at an inn instead while they were in Vacuo. They had left deep in the night, so the pair wanted to get some much needed sleep. After about a half an hour of walking, the two had got to the Inn. Their shared room had been just fine as the two went to sleep for the night.

The next morning, the two went back to Amica's. They had ended up doing the same thing as last night, June talking with March and Ino talking to August. Once they had all eaten breakfast and talked until noon, the Huntress pair had left for Shade to use the CCT Tower to get in contact with their friends. Well, they didn't have to go to it but Ino had wanted to see the tower for herself and June wasn't going to argue with her. It would be the first time they had talked to any of their friends for six months, so it was nice to be able to do this.

After exiting the elevator, they found themselves in the communications center, which wasn't too packed at the time. They had found a terminal and June let Ino talk to her parents first. It had been quick, as her parents had been busy with some stuff, so next came Taiyang and Summer. Raven too but they hadn't really gotten to know her while at Beacon. They had tried with Taiyang, but that didn't work, so they tried Summer. She had picked up relatively quick. When she picked up, she sounded surprised by the call.

"Hey. Where are you," Summer had started the call.

"Well, me and June are in Vacuo using the CCT Tower to call you. June," Ino then looked at June, telling her that she could talk.

"Hey," June had followed up.

"Oh, both of you are still with each other? That's good, mostly because I need to tell you something that just came up," Summer said that in a way that showed she was a little confused about whatever she was going to tell them.

"Um, is everything OK," Ino had followed up sounding concerned.

"Yeah, everything's fine, just um... huh... well... Raven's pregnant, and it's Tai's," after Summer had said that, both June and Ino's reactions were quite different.

"WHAT," Ino had actually jumped when she said that, and June's eyes just got bigger that had an expression that said, "I was not expecting that."

"Yeah, it's been a little weird. Raven's been acting strange recently, too, but it isn't because of the pregnancy. I think, I'm not really sure. Anyway, you guys might want to come back if you want to see the baby," Summer had stated in way that suggested that they would come back.

"Maybe!? We're leaving today," before Ino could say anything else, June had immediately followed up.

"Wait, what," she said it confused and was asking, "we are?"

"Yes. TODAY," and Ino had then said goodbye to Summer while adding that they would be there as fast as they could. June would've normally questioned Ino about such a big decision for their traveling but, between Summer sounding like she needed them and the fact that their friends were having a kid, she decided that going along with it would've been better than resisting it.

When they got back to Amica's, they unfortunately had to tell the family they were leaving early.

"Is anything wrong," Amica had asked cautiously and concerned.

"I'll let the overjoyed one explain that," and June, after saying that, had let Ino tell him.

"Well. It seems one of our friends our pregnant, so I'm pretty happy about that," and Ino had said it promptly.

"Oh. Well, I'm happy for them. But, if you're in a hurry, I'd recommend to June that you should try to pry her from August," Amica added this last comment as a joke but was still half serious about it. June would have to say goodbye to August but went to March first.

"March," June had called out to her. She soon came out and asked what June was on about.

"Seems we're going to be leaving a little earlier than expected," June told her.

"Why're you leaving so soon? Guess it doesn't matter, I want to leave this place too," March wasn't joking about that last part.

"No, just the fact that a friend is having a kid, so probably have to go back for the time. If I don't come back to see you before graduation, make sure to come to Vale after you graduate," June, after saying that, had then held up her fist for a fist bump, their version of a goodbye.

"You bet your ass I'm leaving here as soon as I can," March had smirked saying this and followed up with a fist bump. After the two's quick goodbye, June went to grab Ino. Sure enough, she was getting bombarded with questions from August.

"...who are they," August had been talking pretty fast, and with excitement.

"It's two of our Hunter friends we met in Beacon," Ino had answered with much excitement as well. August was about to ask more before June had come in and cut off the conversation.

"Sorry, August. Someone insisted that we should leave fast to make it, and I'm going to hold her to it," June had shoved Ino and the gray haired girl had complied. August just said that made sense and let the girls leave. Amica gave them one last goodbye as they headed away. Ino was also soon reminded why she hated the trip across the desert.

Six months later, the pair had found themselves leaving the town they had just defended. At this point, they could just barely connect to the CCT Tower and managed to get a message from Summer that said Raven was almost eight months in. Seeing this, Ino had wanted to get there immediately. June had kept her pace equal to Ino's as the two rushed to see the new mother. After another half-a-day of traveling, the duo had gotten to Vale, with them going to the docks to get a ship for Patch the second they got there. The wait for a boat would take another day, however, so they were forced to sleep at a hotel for the night. It was boring, and partly annoying for June, as Ino was too excited and couldn't stop talking about it. After June had waited for Ino to exhaust herself and fall asleep, June had then followed her and went to sleep. After that night, Ino and June had gotten a boat and headed to Patch, and Ino could hardly wait to see her friends new kid...


	19. Yang (Summer Pt 2)

After the two had got there, they saw how Raven was doing. June and Summer would be able to talk to each other for the first time in months. Summer was helping Raven with everything, but Ino seemed more than happy to replace her. June, throughout all of it, was confused by Ino's liking of the situation; however, she wasn't curious enough to ask her why. In the meantime, June would walk around with Summer in Patch's forest to catch up a couple days after June had gotten there.

"What have you been doing since we graduated," June had asked first.

"Well, it's been weird. I was used to living with them, it was actually weird to not see Qrow everyday," before Summer could add anything, June followed up quickly.

"Wait, now that you mention, where is Qrow," June had asked her.

"Oh, right. After graduation, he stayed with Ozpin and has been doing scouting missions while looking into, um, Salem," Summer said the name with a hushed tone, and continued, "so he's been out of contact for a long time." June nodded in agreement.

"But, it was made weird by the fact Tai and Raven were dating this time, so there's that. There's some things I wished I didn't hear, to say the least," once Summer said that, June understood what she was implying, and definitely didn't want to know that either. To show it, though, she looked away for second while putting a concerned look on her face.

"Let's just talk about something else for now." June had recommended.

"Yeah. Ooh, what places did you see?" Summer had said it with some excitement, as when she started to say it she realized that she hadn't asked about, or even seen many places besides Vale.

"We went to Vacuo, but on our way there we stayed at a couple of settlements, some of which we helped defend. A couple days before we got back, actually, we defended a town from a Grimm force." June had stated this, although not very descriptive about much. June had then tried to flip the conversation, "What about you?"

"Oh, um, not much. I've mostly been doing contracts nearby Vale to stay close to home before I felt ready to leave. Then, Raven got pregnant, so I started to help with that. It must really suck, she's pretty strong and she can't handle herself sometimes. Granted, the baby kicks around a lot too." Summer had started talking about it again.

"You sound pretty interested in this, I'm starting to think that you want one." June had said it with a joking manner, but actually thought it to be true.

"Heh, I think I might," Summer said this a little quieter and blushed slightly at it.

"Well, I'm not sure how I'd handle that, but you're going to have it." June had shoved her in a playful manner after saying that. Summer snickered and shoved back, and then they kept it up until June had pushed hard enough to knock Summer down. However, she took the blue haired girls arm when she started to fall, which made both of them come down. June fell on her back next to Summer.

"I missed you." Summer said it after a sigh and June had agreed with her. Summer had then rolled over, ending up on top of June, and had stayed above her. June then followed up with comment.

"Must've missed me a lot." June had gotten out while Summer had laid down on her, which led to a long kiss. It had included some extra touching from both of them. June had then slightly pushed back to get her off for a second. Summer obliged and came back a bit.

"Probably wanna find a more private place for this." June was able to get it out. Summer answered by getting off of her and standing up, which June followed. They then walked back to Tai's house to grab some things. When they got there, Ino had been helping Raven, who looked like she was going to pass out.

"You two are back already," Ino had greeted them at the door.

"We just needed to grab something." Summer had answered, and then continued, "On that note, you're fine making sure Raven's OK if I were to be gone for the next couple of days, right?"

"What, of course I would. You've already had to do that for the past eight months," Ino looked completely willing to, so Summer just went to grab her clothes while June did the same.

Ino didn't know why they hadn't spent much time together in the forest until she realized that they packed up and left. Now, it was just her and Raven. Tai was out working, which was being a substitute at Signal, so it was up to Ino to do everything for her. Right now, though, Raven was tired and falling asleep on the couch, and all Ino had to do was stay near her in case she needed something. However, with Raven's constant insisting she didn't need help, Ino was persuaded to go relax in the guest room she was using while she stayed there. While she was walking by, she noticed the other guest room, which was being used by Summer and June, had its door opened. The pair must've been in a rush to not close it and, admittedly, Ino wanted to look in. She opened the door and found there was some mess. Not too bad, but some bags weren't packed, as though they were rummaged around.

What caught her attention, though, was a notebook that was set on the floor. Curiosity had overwhelmed her as she picked up the book and realized it was June's. Ino was confused by it, even ignoring that it was handwritten instead of kept on a scroll, she never expected June to have a diary. It became clear, however, that it wasn't when she read the first page. It was research, and it wasn't from her time at Beacon, it had dates telling her that these were recorded on their trip around Sanus.

"Whatever it was, it was hooded and shrouded in mystery, but it must have noticed my Silver Eyed stunt against the Leviathan. I might not need this; however, I need to make sure I don't forget." it was the first line, and considering how long she withheld her power to even her loved ones, this had to have been important, and at the end of the page there was a rough sketch of a mysterious figure in pure black. Ino kept reading, figuring out that June had sneaked away some nights to do personal research away from Ino. She clearly didn't want her to get involved, but she had read too far at this point. Whenever they would stop at a settlement, June would ask about a hooded figure and would be met with vagueness, or just nothing. Although, when she talked to settlements closer to Vacuo, and in the kingdom, she had received several reports of a figure matching the description, albeit vague, but it was a start. Another thing she learned was that this figure may be related to the local bandit tribes.

"With this, I plan on visiting one of these local tribes, although it is dangerous," Ino had been shocked and hoped that she hadn't actually been to one. However, her continued reading only proved her wrong, "I visited a bandit tribe on our journey back from Vacuo. After some… persuasion, they were very willing to give me information. They had hired this figure once, which they say he didn't give a name, but had insisted that they had only hired him for a reported crash landing, which they thought was an ambush and trap. However, he came back saying any fighting survivors were killed, or disabled and couldn't fight. He took his pay and left, and when they got to the site, he was right. The hooded man didn't even take any of the valuables there, he just left them. It was odd, but I can't get more as it's approaching sunrise, and Ino will be waking up soon. I'll keep it down that the Branwen tribe has-."

Ino stopped reading immediately when she read, "Branwen," thinking she had to have written something wrong. Even if she was right, why wouldn't she tell anyone about something like that. Her thoughts were interrupted by a voice coming from behind her in the doorway.

"What are you doing in here?" Raven said in a mellow tone and Ino had turned instantly while hiding the journal.

"Oh, um," Ino had paused for a second and had come up for something, "June wanted me to make sure everything was packed and that she wasn't missing anything important."

"Isn't that something she would've wanted taken care of when she got here?" Raven had got it out before puffing as the baby started kicking again, which gave a convenient escape for Ino. She hid the journal in the back of her shorts and had sprung up to help her.

"Maybe you shouldn't have tried to come up here and stayed resting," Ino had recommended this, but was met with disgust from Raven.

"This kid isn't going to make me a couch potato." She had almost hissed it out while adding on to it, "I don't need you to grab something from my room because I can't do anything." Ino nodded in agreement as Raven walked to her room, albeit, slowly while the kicking continued. In the meantime, Ino would go back down to the living room and watch something for a bit, while planning to see if she could make Raven anything from what was in the kitchen. However, after some time, Ino heard Raven yelling her name, and when she got to her room she was quickly told why the woman had a sudden change in heart.

"I'm pretty damn sure my water just broke," with Raven saying that, Ino immediately got next to her and called Tai. Thankfully, he picked up quickly.

"TAI TAI TAI TAI TAI," Ino was cut off by him.

"Slow down, what's happening," with that, he was answered instantly.

"Well, your wife's in labor." Ino had said that with Raven groaning in the background. Before Ino could say anything else, she heard fast rumbling and talking, as though he had dropped his scroll. Ino had then hung up and started to help Raven up. As they were walking down the stairs, Raven was very willing to make comments through her pain.

"This brat is going to be the death of me," Raven had gotten that out only barely.

"Don't say that, and I mean to save your breath as well." Ino had told her, and that only made Raven more angry.

"The fuck is breathing going to do about this." She had added after Ino.

"You know what, I don't know, just shut up and save it, at least." Ino was being rude with that, but Raven had listened and stopped talking, trying to feel better. Signal wasn't too far from the house, so the soon-to-be mother only had to wait a couple of minutes for Tai to get there with the car. As Ino helped her into the front seat and buckled her in, she couldn't help but get angry at Tai.

"The hell took you so long." Raven said as Ino got in the backseat and patted Tai, telling him to drive. As he started, he responded to Raven.

"I'm sorry, I went as fast as I could." He had added it in a concerned tone, which Raven didn't care about it.

"Don't answer the question, just drive." Raven had said it and Tai was silent for the trip, even though he looked like he needed to. During their ride, Ino was helping Raven through it from the backseat. Once they got to the hospital, they brought her in for a nurse to receive her. Tai had followed them in as they took Raven to the delivery room. Ino was left to wait in the waiting area by herself.

While she had the time to herself, she needed to get Summer. She was actually trained a little and used to dealing with Raven, so it be weird if she didn't show up. However, when Ino had used her scroll, the girl didn't answer. After two more tries, she didn't know how else she would get a hold of her, as she did not know where she went off to with June. Thinking that, Ino realized that she could call June instead. She called her twice, with both times not getting an answer, and it was looking as though it would be a repeat of what happened with Summer when the third call had hadn't gotten anything for half-a-minute. However, the girl had picked up.

"What's wrong," June had said it after sighing. Although, it wasn't to show annoyance. It was something else Ino couldn't figure out, but didn't have time to dwell on it.

"Where are you," Ino had said, but then went on without letting her answer, "cause' I need Summer and I know she's with you."

"Yeah she's right here. She doesn't want to talk, though, so what do you need," June had said this as though she was trying to hurry, which had annoyed Ino a bit.

"Raven's having her kid. Right now." With saying that, Ino could hear June get up immediately from what sounded like a be- She then realized what was happening and just told them to hurry.

"Yeah, we'll be there as quick as we can." June had said before hanging up. Ignoring the weirdness of the call, Ino had sat back down and waited for the two. After ten minutes of this, Summer had came in, fast, and had quickly said hello to Ino while asking the woman at the desk. She then ran down the hallway. Once Summer had disappeared, June was shortly behind her and took a seat next to Ino.

"This seems awfully stressful for her." June had started a conversation and had been referring to Summer.

"You're telling me. I only dealt with Raven for a couple days and she was not happy through it. By the way, where were you two?" Ino had added that last question with a smirk forming on her face.

"How about we focus on what's happening," June had looked away while saying that, partly hiding a small blush.

"Heh, sure. I'm surprised you two could make it from that Inn from that far." Ino's smirk had only grown as she said it. This time, June had no comment and her eyes got smaller as she kept looking away. It looked as though she was using much restraint for something, so Ino wasn't going to pressure her further, as she already had her answer.

"Hm, guess it doesn't matter. We probably should be worrying about what's going on." Ino had said that with her tone changing to a more serious one.

"Yeah, probably should." June had turned back with a more serious face, almost as though she could turn off her feelings. Ino got the impression she could turn off her emotions sometimes, and it was weird.

It felt like an eternity as the two of them waited. Since they weren't related, either Summer or Tai would have to tell them when everything was fine. June didn't know how she felt. She wanted nobody to get hurt, but she hardly knew Raven. Besides her backstory, of course. It was then she realized she had forgotten something when she packed up. She started to feel around her pockets and confirmed that she had lost her notebook. That was bad, even if it was still at Tai's house, as she didn't want anyone to see it. Even worse would be if Raven found it. June didn't think Raven wanted anyone to know her familial ties, but it was still bad if anyone else found it. She couldn't stop thinking about the worst cases of where it could end up, and it only made waiting even more antagonizing to her.

Finally, after waiting for hours, Summer had come out. She was messy, but fine.

"We're good, for now. But, I don't think Raven wants any visitors anytime soon." Summer said, and she had a more relieved tone.

"Well, that's fine. Maybe we'll get to see the baby soon," Ino had asked.

"Not sure. Again, probably should just wait until Raven feels better," Summer had answered. Now, June had followed up.

"Even with that, I'll stay with you as long as you're here. I'm also sure Ino will want to stay here to see the baby, too." June had added.

"About that. I think that we should go back." Summer had responded and grabbed June's arm.

"O-oh, OK. I guess I'll go with whatever you say." June had listened and followed the girl as she brought her out. Now, Ino was alone. She knew how to get back, but didn't feel like walking just yet, so she waited. After some time, Tai had come out, looking awfully exhausted.

"Ino? Why are you still here?" Tai had said in a confused tone.

"I didn't really feel like walking, and I still kinda want to see the baby if I'm being honest." Ino had added the last comment smiling.

"Well, I guess you could come see her now if Raven's fine with it." Tai had said before Ino had quickly asked more questions.

"A girl? What did you name her," Ino had asked excitedly.

"Oh, we weren't sure, but had come up with something a little bit before." Tai had told her while continuing with his answer, "We came up with... Yang."


	20. An Unexpected Outcome (Summer Pt 3)

**Authors Note: It's been a second, to say the least. I'm sorry for going on such a long hiatus for no apparent reason, but school really got to me! Anyway, I'll start working on this story again, and the revision to the Vacuo Saga. Newer readers might be aware of this, but since followers aren't notified when chapters get replaced, I have to tell you that I've been rewriting the Vacuo Saga. I'm not trying to force anyone to reread them, but they are a lot better, and longer, so I recommend doing that. My plan now is to release a new chapter every time I revise an old one, so you guys get a lot when I post one. Truly, I am happy I have more free time to work on this. I'm only sad about the _reason_ I do, so I hope everyone reading this is safe! With that done, I present: Chapter 20!**

After another day in the hospital, Tai had brought Raven home. Ino did get to see Yang before they came home, but she had still left before them. Once the two had gotten there, they were greeted by Summer. She instantly took Yang from Raven, but it wasn't completely on her. It seemed that Raven wanted to let someone else take care of her. It was odd but Summer had proven to be a natural. The new mother had taken her baby back some time later. Other than having to take care of a newborn, the day was relaxing compared to any previous time.

June had been relaxing, too; at least, until she realized that her notebook was still gone. She looked all over the guest room where she and Summer were staying, and when Summer found her looking around, she asked her what she was doing.

"I, uh… Lost a notebook I keep to myself." June had finished and continued looking.

"Really?" Summer had said it more surprised than concerned. Realizing what she was implying when she asked, she wanted to quell that.

"It's not what you think it is. Just more of… I actually don't really know what to call what I write down. Maybe just sketches and ideas, actually." June had responded.

"Oh! Well, maybe you could ask Ino to help you?" Summer had recommended, thinking that getting more hands would help.

"Eh, I'm not…" June had started to say it loudly, but realized something as she was saying it.

She wouldn't have, right? It was, however, a possibility that her curiosity had made her read it. June then said something else.

"Sure, that sounds good."

She then walked down to the dining room where Ino was helping Tai with Yang, Summer behind her.

"Hey, Ino, I need you for a second." June had told her. Ino listened and told Tai that she would come back. They went into the living room and she told her what she needed help with.

"I'm looking for a notebook I've had for awhile, and I'm not sure where it is, so I need some help."

She had to hide a surprised reaction, though, as she realized something. I never put it back!?

"Oh, sure," Ino said, still suppressing her nervousness.

"Alright." June had then started up the stairs, and Ino followed her to check the guest room, she guessed. Summer replaced her in helping with Yang for the time being.

Once they got to the bedroom, she let June go first, aware of the fact that the notebook she had in the back of her shorts. After she saw the room torn up, she felt bad. I should've never read this thing! When they started looking, she saw June heading for the door after a bit. Seeing an opportunity, she took the notebook out and set it on the floor.

Just then, she heard the door close, but when she looked behind her June was still in the room.

"Why did you close… the door…" Ino had trailed off when June's expression had changed to something more menacing.

"How much of it did you read." June said, more commanding than asking.

"I-I don't know what you're talking abou-" Ino stopped when June showed her the notebook. She looked behind her at the floor and noticed it was gone. She was a lot faster than she remembered. Ino then broke and started to explain herself.

"Alright alright! I'm sorry. You left it when you and Summer had gone in a hurry. I couldn't help myself, so I read it. I read up to the point where you brought up the… Branwen… Part." June had kept staring daggers at her for another couple of seconds before she had just sighed. Then, her face softened completely, looking more disappointed than mad.

"Just… Don't tell anyone, okay?" June had told her and she put the notebook away within her cloak.

"Wait," Ino cut her off before she could leave the room, "what else was in there?" In response, June just made a motion to indicate she wasn't going to tell her anything else.

Considering what else was written down in it, it made sense. It mentioned her Silver Eyes, which she hid to protect herself and her friends, so she cared a lot about that thing.

After another day, June planned to visit the old headmaster. When she told Summer what she was doing and when she would be back, she asked a favor.

"While you're there, do you think you can tell Ozpin about Yang? I think he should, and he can tell Qrow when he comes back. Raven said she doesn't care, but I'm sure Qrow does," she asked June before she left.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure to tell him," June told her, and reassured her that she would take care of it.

She went off and got a ferry heading to Vale. The whole trip wouldn't be a long commute, but she would spend a day in Vale for some relaxation. Once the ferry had arrived, she headed instantly for the airfield that took students to Beacon. She was able to board the ship when she got there, but it would be a second before it departed, so June had to wait.

It was then that a familiar voice had gotten her attention.

"Heya June!" She looked down a bit to be greeted by a head full of blonde hair.

"Um, hi?" June had addressed her, but didn't know who she was. She looks familiar.

"Oh, right! It's been awhile since we talked! I was the girl from Atlas who fought Ino in the final round of the 31st Vytal Festival Tournament! It's Sakura." Her fast talking and jumpy personality had immediately reminded June of who she was.

"Right. Sorry I didn't recognize who you were immediately," she said, apologizing.

"Nah, I get that. It's been a couple years. Why're you going to Beacon?" Sakura had asked her right after saying that. June would have to adjust to such fast speaking.

"I'm just here to talk to the headmaster. But, to be fair, shouldn't that question apply more to you?" June had said it and implied that she had flipped that question.

Before Sakura could answer, the airship had closed and they had started the ascent to Beacon. She quickly started to talk after they took off.

"Oh! I have a little sister who decided to attend Beacon. She doesn't have a place to stay since she's from Atlas, but I'm here to bring her home for the Summer! Personally, I think it was a good idea. The more I think about it, the more I wish I went to Beacon instead." She had said a lot quickly.

"Well, that sounds nice. How's your sister doing?" June asked the hyperactive girl.

She hesitated, though. Sakura could usually read a person quite easily, which is why she could socialize easily as well, but June had always been different.

"She's doing fine. Not as good as me, of course, but fine." Sakura found herself stopping, not sure what to talk about. Before she could come up with anything, June had broken the silence.

"That's good. It can be difficult to do well in these academies, not to mention attending one so far from home," she said.

"Yeah! I enjoy Beacon but I wouldn't really understand trying to get away like that," Sakura said, confused before immediately shifting again. "Wait, didn't you used to live in Vacuo?"

"I did. Did Ino tell you that?"

"Yep! Although, she never did give me the reason. So, why did yah attend Beacon?"

"Oh. I guess I just wanted to see other places. I only ever lived in that desert before I came here-"

"I get that. Snow is just a cold desert if you think about it! But whatabout your parents?" She almost cut June off and started looking at her like a curious puppy after asking.

"Um, It's… Complicated, to say the least." June intentionally looked away while frowning to show the severity of the topic.

It worked, and Sakura decided she would leave that where it was and ask her something else.

"Oh, okay. Well, why do you need to see the headmaster?"

"A friend of mine works with him, so I was seeing if there was anything on his whereabouts from him."

"Really!? The only people who can be close like that to our headmaster are high ranking officials."

"Oh, right. I sometimes forget that Atlas is like that."

"I think a lot of people do, too." Before Sakura could say anything else, June started off.

"I'd hate to end our talk here, but I have to check on some other things. It was nice to see you again, though."

"Aww. Well, it was nice to see yah too!" Sakura said before walking off.

June didn't actually have anything else to do that second, she just didn't feel like continuing that talk. She did like Sakura, but the questions, starting to get deep, were concerning to her. She hoped she was just sociable and curious, and truly thought that; however, she didn't want to risk anything.

After a little bit of waiting, the airship had arrived at Beacon. She got off and saw Sakura rushing to the school. June, though, took her time as she walked to the central elevator that would take her to Ozpin's office. The ride itself was longer than most, considering how high the tower is, and she had arrived at his office. She found that he was working on something.

"I was wondering who was coming up. It's nice to see you, June." He had addressed her while closing what he was working on, "Take a seat." She followed and started to talk as she sat down.

"I should start with asking for a favor. Summer asked me if you could tell Qrow something when he gets back." June had started.

"Hm, I'm not sure when that will be, but what is it?" Ozpin had asked the girl.

"Well, Raven and Tai finally had their kid, so Qrow should probably be told that when he gets back. They named her Yang, too," June had answered.

"Oh, well that's great. Summer told me she was pregnant. It's also good to hear that she's doing well. I'll make sure to tell him; although, it has been awhile since I've heard from him." Ozpin had responded, and then explained before June could ask, "He warned me that he would be out there for awhile this time. He's awfully dedicated to learning everything he can about Salem. I do hope he can see his niece." He had stopped, but he spoke before June again, "Considering you talked about Summer, I'm assuming that you are here for some other reason, yes?"

"Yeah, I am, actually," June had told him, but seemed to still be debating whether she should tell him anything. It was, however, Ozpin, and, even though it was harsh, she didn't fully care for him the same way she did her friends, "I… found something of interest." She took out her notebook and flipped to a page she wrote for this occasion. He read it, and he looked invested in it rather quickly.

"I see. Is there anything else I should know?" Ozpin had said it in a more serious tone, seeming concerned. The page had her first account of seeing a figure during her final mission, and then her research into the bandit tribes that hired someone with a matching description.

"Well, it might be important to know one of the bandit tribes that hired them was… The Branwen tribe." June had paused a second saying that, and Ozpin had gotten the message.

"Well, that's certainly… A development. However, I can't be sure if I could justify doing anything about it without more evidence. It does appear that you are just describing a mercenary. As for the hooded figure you saw during your fight with the Leviathan, well..." He explained why he couldn't help her with anything. He did, however, try to make her feel more optimistic, "But, I'll be sure to ke-" He was cut off by the girl.

"It's fine. I understand why you can't do anything. I just wanted to show you in case anything happened. I needed to tell someone anyway. I'll take care of research into it myself." June explained. She then got up, and then added something else, "And make sure not to tell anyone."

"Don't worry, I won't, and I hope your research doesn't reveal… Too much. Take care." Although the comment may have seemed rude, she knew the good will behind it. She left, responding to the goodbye nod he gave with another.

Considering that their talk didn't take long, June decided to stay at Beacon for a little while. Quickly, she found herself in the Library. June had almost read everything in there during her four years since it was a pastime for her. Thankfully, they added new books all the time, and it was a rather large library.

She found, however, that she had a problem that she wasn't expecting at all: Popularity.

"Um, hello?" June's reading was interrupted by a light voice. When she looked up, she found a girl with long brown bangs, and she was almost hiding behind them.

"Uh, hi?" June had responded, and then continued, "Do I know you?" June had also set down her book, but didn't let go of it.

"I- I just wanted to say hello." The girl was very shy, stumbling over her own words.

"Uh, O.. K then." June had then brought the book back up to keep in reading, but the girl had started to talk again.

"Wait! Sorry, sorry! I just don't know what to say! I want to talk, but-" June had cut off the girl.

"Calm down. Just relax." June had told her in a calm, relieving tone. It helped the girl as she breathed and relaxed. June then continued, "How about we start right? What's your name?"

"Oh, right." She had realized it and answered her, "It's Gretchen Rainart."

"Well, nice to meet you, Gretchen." June had responded nicely and continued with hers, "My name is-"

"June." Gretchen had cut her off before she could finish. June's expression had changed to a more concerned and serious one. Gretchen had seen it quickly and got scared while trying to explain, "Wait! It was rude to cut you off. Let me explain. I saw you in the 30th and 31st Vytal Festival Tournaments, and you were very cool! And it now sounds creepy-" June cut her off by raising up her hand.

She herself switched to a lighter tone, and smiled.

"No that makes sense. It's my fault for not remembering. I didn't really grow up in a place where we could see the Vytal Festival, not to mention Vacuo was a harsh place," June said, realizing the girl was antisocial or saw June as some form of celebrity, or both.

"Oh, well that's interesting. I grew up here in Vale, so the Vytal Festival was always a tradition. I just wanted to tell you… That you're one of the people who convinced me to come to Beacon." Gretchen had told her.

"Hm, I hope other people weren't the only reason you decided to become one."

"Uh, what is that supposed to mean?" The girl looked both confused and concerned about what June had said

"No, I'm sorry. I'm happy that you were able to get into Beacon, but I was trying to say that I hope you understood all the risks being a Huntress had when you signed up, instead of just trying to become one because of someone else you saw fighting," June explained.

"Oh! N-no, I'm not that inconsiderate. Seeing Hunters were one of my pull factors, but it was being able to protect people that got me. I did do research and didn't go in blindly. My brother was still resistant to me attending, though." Gretchen had said that last line with some distaste, which was then followed by some sadness

"Is something wrong?" June had asked her in a concerned tone while being curious in her own sense.

"No, it's just… I love my brother, but I wished that he would have supported me in coming to Beacon." Gretchen had told her, and then followed up, "Sorry. I got kinda personal with that."

"It's fine. I would hope his opinion changes after you graduate as a Huntress." June had said that while winking, and then went on, "I appreciate your liking of my skill as a Huntress, but I would like to get back to reading."

"O-oh! O-of course! Have a good day!" Gretchen said goodbye, with June waving to her as she walked away. The day had gone by relatively fast, and, surprisingly, June had several more students come up to her in a similar fashion to Gretchen. I guess blue hair does kind of stick out, huh? she asked herself rhetorically.

With sunset, June had found herself on an airship heading back to Vale. One trip later she was on her way to a hotel to stay the night in. It didn't really matter to her if it was bad, though. Most Inns were worse, especially the cheaper ones. Besides, all the walking had made June tired, and made falling asleep a little easier.

She woke up early, needing to catch a ferry to Patch in the morning. It didn't take her long to walk to the dock, just making it to the ferry. After a quick trip across the water, she walked back to Tai's house. When she finally got there, she knocked and was greeted by Summer.

"You're back! What did Oz say about Qrow?" Summer asked her while she opened the door for June.

"It wasn't good. He said he wasn't going to be back for a while. Apparently, Qrows been out for a long time, and planned on it," June told her while walking in, and Summer didn't seem happy about it.

"Well, that sucks. But I guess Raven isn't all that concerned about it, even if it is confusing why she's refusing it." She made it sound as though Raven was resistant to Qrow coming to see Yang. June went to the guest room. She then started to pack up.

Eventually, Summer came up and saw what she was doing.

"You're… already leaving?" Summer looked awfully depressed about the prospect.

"No. Not today, and not tomorrow. However, it will probably be soon." June's answer didn't make her feel better, so she said what she was thinking, "Hey, don't get so sad. I'm preparing to leave, but I wanted you to come with me. Of course, when you want to leave."

"Really? I would want to go now, but I should stay here for a bit longer." Summer had added that last part, seeming confused how she felt.

"It's fine. I was expecting that anyway. I was just making sure I had everything, too, so I'm not concerned about leaving now." June gave Summer the power to call when they would leave, and she was fine with that

A couple weeks had gone by before Summer had felt okay about leaving, thinking that Tai and Raven should get used to taking care of their kid without having someone else's help. Ino was more resistant to leaving, but after Tai suggested that it would be better for him and Raven to be alone, she realized that he was right. All while this was happening, Summer was almost jumping with excitement to leave. June knew she was excited. This, though, was a little too much in her eyes, so she decided to be up front with her as they were leaving Vale.

"So, Summer, are you really that excited to go out?" June asked the girl.

"Of course I am!" She responded rather quickly, and then continued, "I wasn't able to go exploring after Beacon, y'know. Well, that's what I get for staying long enough for the kid."

"It couldn't have been that bad, right? You were able to live on Patch for that time."

"Eh, that's still in Vale, though. I would really like to see Mistral, but I like the idea of going to Vacuo and Atlas."

"Pffff," June had responded to that comment in a mocking manner.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Summer had said it with an angry, pouty face.

"You're probably just talking about Vacuo to try to make me happy."

"You know that I know you enough to know that's the worst decision I could make!"

"...Yeah… Right." The way she said it reminded Summer of what she saw there.

"I mean, I don't hear good things about it, but I definitely want to see it, and everywhere else."

"Yeah. I'm only messing with you. I was visiting a friend in Vacuo and had to cut the trip for this, so I think we'll take you along for a second trip."

"Really!?"

"Yeup!" June then put her hand on the girl's shoulder before the both of them were flicked in the back of the head.

"We haven't even left Vale and you too are starting to flirt," Ino joked, "But I guess I signed up to be a third wheel agreeing to come."

"Hey! We weren't flirting!" Summer had said in a defensive tone.

"It was getting there. I would know."

"Anyway, Ino, would you be okay with going back to Vacuo?" June stopped the conversation, "It's up to you this time."

"Well, I mean, I think Summer should be the one to come up with that one."

"Oh. Actually, I kinda want to go everywhere, so it would be easier for me if one of you chose," Summer answered, putting her hand behind her head and smiling with her eyes closed. Ino sighed in response, and followed up.

"Um… Then… Mistral, I guess."

"Good. We should get going, then. I'm kind of curious what the headmaster there is like." June had started to trail off during, and after, saying it. Ino elbowed her quickly to knock her out of her thinking.

"You mean challenge him to a fight," Ino said back. June elbowed her back before saying something

"Eh, same thing." They both chuckled about that.

"You too really are good friends, huh?" Summer had jutted in after seeing them. Ino's expression wavered as she realized what was behind that, but she wasn't able to say anything.

"Well yeah. We've all known each other for a long time," June had answered back.

"Right, of course! It's just been a second since I've seen you."

"Yeah, it really has. Time just flies by, huh? Anyway, let's get going." After she finished, June started walking towards a path that would get them to Sanus' Eastern Shore.

She followed in silence, but Ino kept an eye on Summer. As important as what she thought was, this wasn't the time to bring it up aloud. Did June really not notice that? I guess she hasn't dealt with this sort of thing in her life, still…

Deciding to take the scenic route of getting to Mistral would add a lot of time to their trip, but they had all the time in the world to sight-see. Summer was particularly enjoying it, having fun helping people and being able to do what she wanted. June, however, was mixed about the two months of travel leading to Sanus' Eastern port.

Has it really been bothering me that much? June asked herself while walking behind Ino and Summer. It really shouldn't be. It's her choice whether she wants to do anything with me like that. Still… It wasn't the only thing, though, and it felt like she hadn't been talking that much to her, too. Or in general, really. I guess she's really enjoying her time out here. It is her lifelong passion, afterall, so she's probably focusing on the trip more than anything. She made peace with that, realizing it was the most logical reason. Although, she still had that off feeling, Like something more is going on.

"June," Ino caught her attention, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm good. Something up?" She went faster and matched the other girls pace easily.

"The ports up ahead, and it has communication stations that can connect to Vales CCT Tower."

"Hm, can't think of anyone that I would…" June trailed off, remembering something a second later, "Oh, I guess I could find out where May is if we're going to Mistral."

"That's Marches sister, right?" Ino had gotten a nod in response. While they were talking, the shore and port had come into view, and it didn't take long until they got there.

The port wasn't full but was certainly not empty. There were quite a few people waiting for passage. To access the comm area they had to give IDs to the guard who was wearing a security uniform and holstered revolver. He checked June first, and asked her something after checking.

"Excuse me, miss…" He trailed off after he realized something.

"It's just June," she responded, knowing the confusion.

"Right. Well… We've been down on security for some of our boats, and the manager here has been left with balancing it. I can't make any decisions here, but I think you might make his day better." June looked into the comms room before looking back to the guard.

"I think I can make it even better. The two behind are also Huntresses." He then looked at Summer and Ino behind her, after which they offered their IDs. Even behind his hazel beard they could tell he was happy about this.

"Then, please, we could really use your help right now," he said in an extremely formal tone.

"Don't worry. If you could show me where I could find him, I'd be willing to hear the problem," June said. "Oh, and I'll go alone. You two can use the consoles in the meantime." She directed the last part to Summer and Ino.

"Of course. Past the comm center there's a hallway. Then, you'll find a door leading to his office. If you give it a knock tell him who you are he should let you in," he told her. June said thank you before he returned it, and went in.

It wasn't very active. Only one person was in there using the consoles that lined the walls. Following what the guard said, she found the hallway and eventually the door. She knocked and heard a voice telling her to come in. When she did, she saw an older man sitting at a desk, stroking is white goatee looking at a display. He looked up before becoming confused.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I'm a Huntress that was planning on a trip to Anima," she answered.

"You are? Hm, of course. That Will worries about too much," he said while chuckling to himself. "Well, I'm assuming my friend outside told you about the problem we've been having?"

"He did."

"I see. Well, my name's Bazel." He held out his hand. June took it.

"And my name is June," she responded while taking a seat in front of his desk

"Nice to meet you, June. Let's get down to business, then. We have a couple ships that don't have any Hunters assigned to them at the moment.

"I'm sorry to hear that, but I am only concerned with going to Anima. I'm not here to help with anything else. Sorry."

"No no, that's fine. We're still pretty lucky. One of our ships is ready to leave for Anima tomorrow, but without Hunters we didn't know if that was going to happen. We'll compensate you if you plan on going."

"In what way?" June said.

"I'll be able to get on you on the ship for free, and although I don't have much, I would be willing to pay you some money for it."

"What about getting three people on for free?"

"Three?" he said surprised. "I'm sorry, getting two more on a ship without paying would be hard if they were just civilians."

"Well, the other two with me are also Huntresses."

"Really? If that's the case, the captain would most certainly let them on without any fees."

"That's good, but what about payment?" June asked, and the face he made wasn't promising.

"Well… I don't know if I could pay for all three of you. I'm sure the captain would be more than willing to help out-"

"Don't worry about it, then. I think the other two find getting on for free payment enough."

"If that's the case, then thank you! I'll make sure to tell the captain right now." He then got up.

June also stood up and, before she could reach the door, he held it open for her.

"Thank you," she said.

"You're welcome."

June went out into the hallway and kept on until she got to the comm center. There, she found Ino waiting while Summer was using one of the terminals. She walked over and asked Ino if anything had happened.

"No not really," she said, "It's taking a second for Summer to use them."

"Hey, it's not my fault," Summer bumped in.

"I know I know. It's because we're far from Vale."

"Anyway," June started, "we'll be getting on a boat heading to Anima for free."

"Really?!" Ino said in surprise.

"Yep. In exchange we'll be the Hunters escorting the ship."

"Well that's fine. At least we don't have to pay for anything," Ino said, and then looked back at Summer. "Are you still not getting anything."

"Nope. This time from Tai, too," Summer said.

"You already tried with Raven?" June asked.

"Yeah. At this point the only person I could call is Ozpin."

"That's weird," Ino added.

"Yeah…" Summer said, "At least we know Oz should pick up, right? He never really leaves Vale, or even Beacon that often. Maybe he can tell us if somethings up?"

"That sounds good," June said. "I'll try using one of the other ones to see if I can talk to March."

June then went over to another console. Putting her scroll in it, she saw about getting in contact with March. Considering the distance it might take a second. Before she could do anything, however, Ino came over to her, looking distressed.

"What's wrong?" June asked her as she got to her.

"Ozpin said Raven went missing!" Ino said in a hurry.

"What!?"

They both ran back over to Summer, who was listening to Ozpin.

"Oh, you're with Summer as well, June?" Ozpin said looking at her.

"Is Raven really gone?" Ino asked.

"I'm afraid so. It's been a month since she disappeared. Tai's been frantic about searching about her, so I'm not surprised that he didn't answer any of your calls."

"Do you think anything could've happened to her?"

"I'm not sure. She is a Huntress. And a skilled one at that." After that comment, only June didn't look confused.

"What are you trying to imply?" June asked in a solemn expression.

"If she wanted to not be found, she wouldn't be," Ozpin answered.

"But why would she just… Leave?" Summer asked.

"I… don't know, and I can't be sure. But I do think she won't be coming back anytime soon."

Only silence came after that last part. It was like that for some time before Ozpin broke it.

"I do have work to do if there's nothing else you want to talk about-" Ozpin was cut off by Summer.

"Can you tell Tai that I'm coming back?"

"Hm. I'll try calling him. If that doesn't work, I'll find the time to meet him personally and tell him if you don't get back before then."

Ozpin then said goodbye and the display cut off. The three Huntresses just stood there for a second. Then, Summer spoke.

"I don't plan on forcing you guys to come back with me. I would just feel bad if he didn't have anyone."

"You don't have to explain yourself," Ino said while putting her hand on her shoulder. "He's your friend and teammate, after all."

"She's right," June said.

"Then, would either of you come with me?" Summer asked them.

"I'm sorry. I already said that at least I would help with one of the ships leaving with Hunters," June answered.

"That makes sense."

"I'll go with you, then," Ino said after her.

"You would?" Summer asked her.

"Of course. If June's staying here to help and I don't have to worry about anything, I'll help."

"Well, thank you." Summer then went over to June. "Stay well, would yah? And come back, too."

"Of course," June answered back, taking the girl's hand.

There was no other parting gift, though, as Summer pulled back and went off. Ino followed behind her. June knew the captain would be disappointed to lose two of three promised Huntresses, but she also knew he wouldn't complain directly to her. However, she had been the one to lose something the moment Summer left, but she wouldn't realize until it was too late…


End file.
